One more step to clear vision

June Casagrande

Members of the business community have their fingers crossed that a

meeting today between city staff and Caltrans officials will be the

final step in three years of negotiations to take over East Coast

Highway from Jamboree Road to Newport Coast Drive.

“We’re hoping this will be the final meeting,” said Don Glasgow, a

member of the Corona del Mar Business Improvement District.

The district initiated the push to get the city to take over the

stretch of Coast Highway as part of the Vision 2004 revitalization

plan. Glasgow said it’s imperative that Caltrans relinquish ownership

and responsibility for the roadway because Caltrans’ process for

issuing permits makes it much more difficult to make changes called

for in Vision 2004. For example, the pedestrian-oriented

revitalization plan calls for landscaped medians complete with

irrigation, electricity and some added trees and shrubbery. Under

current rules, the business improvement district must first go to

Newport Beach for permits to perform this work, then it has to apply

to Caltrans, which in the past has taken about three years to approve

such requests.

“Their rules date back to a time when Pacific Coast Highway was

the main road, not part of a village like it is today,” Glasgow said.

City ownership of the road would also make it easier for

businesses to put planters in front of their shops and to put

standard-size banners on light posts.

The city has been working for several years to take over the road.

The last sticking point, not surprisingly, is money. Caltrans and the

city both agree that the transportation agency should pay the city to

cover costs of maintaining the road and also the cost of legal

liability. Once the road is in Newport’s hands, legal liability is on

Newport’s shoulders.

But the two government agencies disagree on how much Caltrans

should pay Newport Beach.

“I wouldn’t say it’s an impasse. It’s just part of how

negotiations are done,” said City Manager Homer Bludau, who will act

as chief negotiator for the city.

Bludau on Tuesday declined to state how much the city wants or how

much Caltrans has offered, but the final number will become public

when and if the two parties reach an agreement. When the negotiations

are done, the City Council will make the final vote on whether to

take over the highway.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

[email protected].