By Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager
The next meeting of the Newport Beach City Council will be on Tuesday, February 11 at 4 p.m. The full agenda is available here: https://www.newportbeachca.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/77120/72.
Agenda items include:
- A proposal to reduce flashy fuels and restore habitat in Buck Gully reserve. The $425,000, eight-year agreement with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy would: replace flammable, non-native, annual vegetation with non-flammable cacti; replace flammable, annual vegetation with less flammable coastal sage scrub/grassland vegetation; eliminate invasive artichoke thistle; and create habitats for the California Gnatcatcher and Coastal Cactus Wren.
- Consideration of awarding non-exclusive commercial solid waste franchises to BC Hauling and Demolition, California Waste Services LLC, and Tim Greenleaf Engineering. Following a public hearing, the City Council will consider an ordinance granting franchises to these entities.
- A resolution that would allow credit card fees charged by third parties for City-related transactions to be paid directly by the consumer. The City accepts a variety of payment methods, including cash, check, credit card, ACH electronic transfers, and e-check for services such as utility bills, permits and fines. The City currently charges a 2.85 percent credit card convenience fee; however, processing fees vary due to different card types, third-party vendors, and payment platforms. Therefore, the City seeks to pass through actual processing costs. Customers can avoid credit card fees by paying via e-check or ACH electronic transfer.
- Consideration of a request to waive City Council Policy L-2 (driveway approaches), and approve a coastal development permit for a duplex at 3601 Lake Ave. The action would waive Policy L-2, which generally requires vehicular access for new residential developments adjoining an alley to be taken from the alley. However, due to an above-ground utility in the alley that cannot be relocated, the proposed duplex would provide alternate vehicular access. The applicant, Brandon Architects, also requests a coastal development permit to allow demolition of a single-unit dwelling and the construction of a new 4,218-square-foot duplex.
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.
