Measure A: Losses on Both Sides

Voters in Newport Beach last Tuesday soundly rejected the Irvine Co.’s latest plan for the ultimate development of Newport Center. It wasn’t a close election decided by a small percentage of the electorate. The turnout was 43%. That’s at least double the percentage that single-issue special city elections usually attract.

The vote against the $300-million project was 58%. That’s a strong rejection from residents, most of whom seemed to be saying that they wanted less growth and less traffic.

Opponents of the measure naturally are claiming victory. But, in fact, there were losses on both sides. The Irvine Co. lost the compromise development plan it wanted. And the community lost, too, particularly the millions of dollars in road improvements that would have included the immediate construction of Pelican Hill Road. City officials, even more than the Irvine Co., wanted that road built now, not years from now, to divert motorists around traffic-choked Corona del Mar and ease congestion on Coast Highway.

Rejecting Measure A did not solve that critical need. Nor did the vote mean the end of development at Newport Center. It will grow. The question is how.

The challenge now is for the Irvine Co. and the community to work together to produce an acceptable growth plan that everyone can live with and benefit from.

One way to start would be for the Irvine Co. to give residents a more active role in planning the center’s future rather than trying to sell them on a plan the company already has drafted.