Newport Beach : Citizens’ Group Sues on Change in Traffic Law

A local citizens’ group has filed suit against the City of Newport Beach, charging illegal passage of an amendment to a city traffic control ordinance, a spokeswoman for the group said Friday.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of SPON--Stop Polluting Our Newport--seeks an injunction on the amended Traffic Phasing Ordinance approved last month by the City Council, SPON spokeswoman Jean Watt said.

“We felt they (the city) needed to do an environmental impact report” before amending the ordinance, Watt said.

City Atty. Robert Burnham denied SPON’s allegations, saying the environmental impact report was not needed because the amendment “was found by the city not to have a significant adverse effect” on traffic control. “The city believed it acted properly” in the matter, he said.

The original traffic ordinance, passed in 1978 at the request of SPON, monitors traffic levels caused by new development in the area. By law, developers must submit a plan for street improvements at intersections where development will take place. Typically, that means widening streets, Burnham said.

The amendment, passed Nov. 13 by the City Council, would create alternative tests to determine traffic levels before issuing building permits to developers, Burnham said. Watt contends that “neither the council or the citizens had enough information on the impact” the amendment would have on traffic levels and that such levels could be determined only by the impact report.

The amended ordinance went into effect Friday. The lawsuit does not halt the ordinance unless the court rules favorably on the injunction, Burnham said.