Commentary : Newport Weigh Price of Growth : Yes: Plan Carries Wide Benefits

Measure A, calling for completion of Newport Center as well as requiring millions of dollars in tax-free road improvements, will be on the Newport Beach ballot Tuesday. It deserves a resounding “yes” vote.

It’s not just the Irvine Co.’s plan for Newport Center, it’s our city’s plan--the product of scores of meetings with community groups and tough negotiation and compromise by our City Council, city commissions and city staff.

As a result of this community-wide participation, the plan has community-wide benefits. In my 30 years as a Newport Beach resident, I’ve never seen a plan that brings so much to so many in our city--youngsters and adults, commuters and local residents, shoppers and business people.

In road improvements alone, the benefits are enormous. The plan requires road improvements that go far beyond the needs of Newport Center to be paid for by the Irvine Co. Extensive traffic relief will be provided by major upgrading along Jamboree Road and MacArthur Boulevard, and--most important--by the new Pelican Hill Road bypass route around Corona del Mar.

To me, Pelican Hill Road is one of the most needed elements of the plan. Pelican Hill Road long has been planned as part of the down-coast project, but if we wait for it to be built under the Irvine Coast plan, it would take up to 10 years or more. Under Measure A, the Irvine Co. will have the financial resources to pay for building the road starting next year. Eighteen months later it will be open to all that through traffic that is now clogging our local streets every morning and evening.

We’ll get much more with Measure A. Our kids will get a teen club on land donated by the Irvine Co. so they’ll have a place to gather in a safe, clean, supervised environment. The Newport Harbor Art Museum and Library will be expanded into a true cultural complex on land dedicated by the Irvine Co. Fashion Island will be enhanced with more shops, restaurants and a new movie theater complex.

And there will be--built over the next decade or two--one new office tower, two mid-rise buildings and garden office complexes. These, along with a variety of controlled density housing, will be carefully phased in with an upgraded local road system at no cost to our taxpayers.

When completed, Newport Center will generate more than $1 million every year in additional revenues for our city, revenues for police, fire protection, street cleaning and other city services.

That’s why the healthy local economy assured by the Newport Center plan is so important to every homeowner. That’s why Measure A deserve a “yes” vote Tuesday.