HomeMy WebLinkAbout11 - Local Coastal Program Implementation Plan (PA2013-001) - CorrespondenceReceived After Agenda Printed
November 7, 2016
Item No. 11
November 7, 2016, Council Agenda Item 11 Comments
The following comments on items on the Newport Beach City Council agenda are submitted by:
Jim Mosher (jimmosher@yahoo.com ), 2210 Private Road, Newport Beach 92660 (949-548-6229)
Item 11. Local Coastal Program Implementation Plan (PA2013-001)
This is a very frustrating item to deal with: a great volume of material has been provided with a
very short time to evaluate it.
Compounding that problem, the City has made the time available to the public shorter still by
holding the hearing on it a day earlier than would normally be expected, rather than a day later
(which would have given extra time, not less).
Compounding the frustration, neither the staff report nor the Coastal Commission cover letter
makes it clear if the City has any latitude to adjust the Plan, or is required to approve it exactly
as it was supposedly approved by the Coastal Commission on September 8t". If the latter is the
case, making the investment in time and effort to point out the flaws and inconsistencies in it —
when there is no chance to correct them — seems utterly pointless.
That said, of the small sections I have looked at, the map sections seem particularly inscrutable.
For example, probably the most fundamental document in the entire plan is the "Coastal Zoning
Map" referenced in proposed Section 21.14.010. But I am unable to find any such map being
offered for approval. On the other hand, I find a series of "Area Maps" in proposed Section
21.80.010, the purpose and significance of which I, at least, am unable to find explained.
Equally disturbing to me, as I pointed out to Coastal Commission staff in writing prior to the
September 8 hearing, the City's Coastal Land Use Plan contains a promise in Policy 4.4.2-3 to
continue to preserve the visual character of the city by ensuring development stays within the
building envelopes allowed under "the height, setback, floor area, lot coverage, and building
bulk regulation of the Zoning Code in effect as of October 13, 2005." Yet the proposed
Implementation Plan copies text from a later Zoning Code which is demonstrably inconsistent
with the rules in 2005, including text City staff now says exempts Planned Community Districts
from height regulations — even though that was explicitly not the case in 2005.
As best I can tell nothing was changed as a result of those comments. So, at least in my view,
the proposed IP remains inconsistent with the certified CLUP, and is not an accurate
implementation of it.
could enumerate additional flaws, errors, and inconsistencies on the few other pages I have
studied, but as indicated above, doing so may be entirely pointless. In addition, the present
time constraints would make it completely scattershot.
I believe the suggestion I made to the Coastal Commission on the morning of September 91"
remains a good one: public comment on something as complex as an LCP should be handled
in a manner similar to that used for public comment on Environmental Impact Reports. A
definite text should be made available for a 45 -day review period at the end of which written
responses to each and every comment submitted should be made available to decision makers
and the public for their evaluation. The public would then feel engaged (as they definitely do not
feel in the present process), and the result would clearly be a better document.