By Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager
Our next City Council meeting is Tuesday, July 27, 2021. Items that may be of interest are highlighted below. The entire agenda, and all reports, can be viewed at https://www.newportbeachca.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/64221/72.
The Regular Meeting begins at 4 p.m. with a closed session. The Council will reconvene at 5 p.m. for the open session, with the following items of note:
- At 5 p.m. the Council will conduct a public hearing on the formation of an assessment district that would underground utility poles and lines in a 50-block area of central Balboa Island. The public hearing will be followed by the tabulation of voting ballots submitted by property owners within the proposed assessment district. All assessment ballots must be submitted by the close of the public hearing; any received after the deadline will not be valid. Assessment District 124 was proposed by residents to improve neighborhood aesthetics, safety and system reliability by converting existing overhead utilities to underground locations. The property owners within the boundaries of the proposed assessment district would pay $32.8 million in construction and financing costs, with varying costs to each property owner depending on parcel size. Ballots were previously mailed to property owners in the proposed district and can be returned by mail or in person before the close of the public hearing.
- A study session will outline the public process and timeline for Council area redistricting. The City is required to conduct an analysis of its Council districts every 10 years, following the national census, to reflect changes in population and ensure that all districts have an equal number of residents.
- The Council will conduct a second public hearing to review a February decision by the City’s Planning Commission to approve a mixed-use development project at 2510 and 2530 W. Coast Highway in the Mariner’s Mile area. After an initial public hearing in April, the Council voted to continue the project to accommodate a request by the developer to modify the project and address input from the public and Council members. The updated project proposes a mixed-use development of 36 residential housing units and a 5,096-square-foot office. Three of the units would be provided as workforce housing and made affordable to very low-income households. The updated project eliminates a boutique auto showroom and significantly changes the architecture, orientation and design style proposed in the original plans.
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 get’s 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.
This Insider’s Guide is not an attempt to summarize every item on the Agenda – just the ones that seem of specific interest to the City Manager. You are encouraged to read the full agenda if you wish.
