By Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager
The next City Council meeting is Tuesday, April 9. Items of interest are highlighted below. The entire agenda and reports can be viewed here: https://www.newportbeachca.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/73675/72.
A study session will begin at 4 p.m.:
- Discussion on the Balboa Yacht Basin. City staff will provide an update on a project to redevelop the Balboa Yacht Basin buildings.
The regular meeting will begin at 5:15 p.m. Agenda items include:
- General Plan Update Steering Committee report. Since the previous report to the City Council in September 2023, the steering committee has held three public meetings, the General Plan Advisory Committee has held five public meetings, and various subcommittees have held three public meetings.
- Approval of the Residences at 1400 Bristol Street development and a resolution overriding an Orange County Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) determination of inconsistency. The project would develop 229 apartment units atop a 422-space parking structure and a pedestrian bridge connecting the project with the approved Residences at 1300 Bristol Street. The proposed project is located at Bristol and Spruce streets near the John Wayne Airport. Project approval would require a resolution overriding the ALUC’s determination of inconsistency with the 2008 JWA Environs Land Use Plan (AELUP).
- Approval of the Residences at 1401 Quail Street project and a resolution overriding ALUC’s determination of inconsistency. The project would develop a 67-unit for-sale condominium building atop a 146-space parking structure at Quail and Spruce streets near John Wayne Airport. Project approval would require a resolution overriding the ALUC’s determination of inconsistency with the 2008 AELUP.
- Approval of new sculptures for the Civic Center Park rotating sculpture exhibition (Phase IX). The City Arts Commission recommended 10 sculptures based on the results of a public survey. If approved, the sculptures will be installed in June and remain on display for two years.
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.
