City close to having more say on coast

Alicia Robinson

Once Newport Beach has a coastal development plan in place, the City

Council will be taking on a few more responsibilities -- and the city

can stop paying $1,000 a month in penalties for failing to have an

approved plan.

The city has been moving closer to finishing its local coastal

program, which governs land use along the coast and sets up

regulations for planning and development. With a local coastal

program, the City Council could act on behalf of the Coastal

Commission to enforce the Coastal Act, Assistant City Manager Dave

Kiff said.

The new plan has been a long time in the making -- the city had a

first draft for half of the two-part plan in November 2002. That

draft will finally be ready to come to the Planning Commission for

approval next month, said Patrick Alford, a senior planner with the

city.

The Coastal Act requires city and county governments to develop

local coastal plans. Newport Beach had the land-use portion of the

plan certified around 1990, but it was never finished, Alford said.

“It was just basically a low priority,” he said.

The issue moved to the front burner when the state Legislature set

creation of a local plan as a condition of the Newport Coast

annexation in 2002. The city was given a deadline of July 2003 to

have the plan ready and has since been racking up penalty fees of

$1,000 a month.

A plan wasn’t finished on time because the city wanted to give it

more public review than the Legislature allowed time for, Kiff said.

The Coastal Commission deemed the 1990 land-use plan outdated, so

it had to be revamped, Alford said. The new land-use portion is

poised to go to public hearings with the Planning Commission in

March.

Once that part of the plan is approved locally and by the Coastal

Commission, the other half of the plan can be developed.

“The second part is sometimes a little more complex, because then

you have to develop specific regulations,” Alford said.

While the Coastal Commission would still have jurisdiction in some

areas, under a local coastal program, the city could approve some

permits for remodeling of homes and businesses if they weren’t

directly along the water. Residents could seek their permit from the

City Council instead of having to travel out of town for a Coastal

Commission meeting, Kiff said.

The major benefit to the city would be that it would gain the

authority to grant some coastal permits, Alford said.

The current plan has been aired publicly at city meetings, and

while it hasn’t exactly been the talk of the town, Kiff said, it has

been important to people who watch coastal issues.

“Those that know more about it do care about it,” Kiff said. “The

people who have dealings with the Coastal Commission today are very

interested in the LCP process because they can see the benefits.”

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

[email protected].