By Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager
The next City Council meeting is Tuesday, September 10. Items of interest are highlighted below. The entire agenda and reports can be viewed here: https://newportbeachca.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/73666/72.
The regular meeting will begin at 4 p.m. Agenda items include:
- Consideration of an ordinance requiring brick-and-mortar businesses to accept payments in cash when offered. The ordinance would update the Newport Beach Municipal Code to require in-person transactions to accommodate cash for the purchase of food and beverages and consumer goods. If approved, the ordinance would go into effect on March 31, 2025.
- A resolution in support of Proposition 36, the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act on the November ballot.
- Fiscal Year 2023-24 Community Development Block Grant Program Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report. This report is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to document progress in meeting the City’s goals as established in its 2023-24 Annual Action Plan.
- An update to Title 21 (Local Coastal Program Implementation Plan) of the Newport Beach Municipal Code that would amend density bonus regulations to comply with State law. This item would bring Newport Beach into compliance with State regulations related to density bonuses and clarify density bonuses, waivers and incentives for properties in the coastal zone.
City Council Meeting Information
The Newport Beach City Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of most months (the exceptions are August and December). Typically, there is a Study Session that starts at 4 p.m. Study sessions are times for the Council to take a deeper look at a specific issue, or hear a presentation, that might eventually lead to a specific and more formal action. A closed session often follows the Study Session. Closed sessions are typically to address legal, personnel, and other matters where additional confidentiality is important.
The Regular (evening) Session typically starts at 6 p.m., and often has a specific listing of different items ready for formal votes. Items on the “Consent Calendar” are heard all at once, unless a Council member has removed (aka “pulled”) an item from the Consent Calendar for specific discussion and separate vote. If an item on the agenda is recommended to be “continued,” it means that the item won’t be heard nor voted on that evening, but will be pushed forward to another noticed meeting.
Public Comment is welcomed at both the Study Session and the Regular Session. The public can comment on any item on the agenda. If you want to comment on a Consent Calendar item that was not pulled from the Consent Calendar by a Council Member, you will want to do so at the time listed on the agenda – right before the Council votes on the entire Consent Calendar (it’s Roman Numeral XIII on the posted agenda). If an item is pulled, the Mayor will offer that members of the public can comment as that specific item is heard separately.
Additionally, there is a specific section of Public Comment for items not on the agenda, but on a subject of some relationship to the city government. If you cannot attend a meeting and/or want to communicate with the City Council directly, this e-mail gets to all of them: citycouncil@newportbeachca.gov. The City Manager also gets a copy of the email, because in almost all cases it’s something that the City Manager follows-up on.
The Council meets in the Council Chambers at 100 Civic Center Drive, off of Avocado between San Miguel and East Coast Highway. There is plenty of parking in the parking structure. You are always welcome to attend in person, but you can also watch on TV, Spectrum channel 30 and Cox channel 852 or stream it on your computer.
