Newport’s Measure A Is Measured

* Regarding Measure A, which is the Newport Beach referendum whereby the City Council has asked the voters to express an opinion on the purchase of three parcels of land in the Back Bay:

I wish that there was some way to limit the voting to those who have taken the time to go to the site and actually see what is at issue. If that could be required, perhaps those who did so would contemplate the vision of those who some 60 years earlier caused Newport Bay to be created at taxpayer expense. Then, just maybe, they would think 60 years ahead and realize that they too now had an opportunity to actually do something that would forever enhance their community. If this opportunity is not seized, it will be lost forever.

BRUCE W. SUMNER

Newport Beach

* Measure A, a so-called advisory vote, proposes that a tax assessment district be formed, encompassing all property owners in Newport Beach. The funds generated by the assessment district would be used by the city to purchase 138 acres of Back Bay vacant land from the Irvine Co. at a cost to taxpayers of $60 million. Measure A will pass if 60% or more “yes” votes are cast.

Several years ago, the Newport Beach City Council hammered out a very good agreement with the Irvine Co. relating to building homes in the area covered by Measure A. It was mutually agreed that the Irvine Co. could build 363 homes, to be confined to 52 acres, and that the remaining 77.8 acres must be permanently devoted to open space. This agreement involved no cost to the city or its taxpayers. On the contrary, if the Irvine Co. were to go ahead with construction, jobs would be created and a permanent addition to the city’s tax base would be created.

If “A” passes, property owners will be required to pay $60 million just to get the 52 acres, a price of over $1 million per acre.

If “A” passes, it will be the largest assessment district ever created in the state of California and would be in conflict with the spirit of Proposition 13 which requires a two-thirds majority to assess a new tax.

Tax assessment districts are intended to be used for geographically confined areas, where a handful of taxpayers are involved, and would directly benefit. But no such advantage from Measure A would accrue to the vast majority of Newport taxpayers--many of them live miles away from the area in question. In fact, as many people from Costa Mesa would benefit from Measure A as from Newport Beach. The vast majority of Newport taxpayers never have and never will go to the areas in question.

MELVIN S. MANN

Newport Beach

* Although I am a senior citizen living on a fixed, limited income, and I do not live near any of the properties the Newport Conservancy is working to preserve, I urge the passage of Measure A on the November ballot. My concern is for the healthy development--emotional as well as physical--of the current generation of children who will become the participating citizens in this community within a few years.

Humans and their environment cannot be separated. They shape each other by their interactions.

A goal of the Conservancy is to maintain a fraction of our natural environment for all children as a resource and a refuge and to add a measure of balance as well as a sense of joy.

My feelings of urgency about this were increased while leading a docent tour for children at the Sherman Gardens. In the “Touch and Feel” area, I had helped a child break off a bit of rose geranium leaf to crush in her fingers and then to sniff its fragrance. I asked what the scent reminded her of and she replied, “It smells like that stuff you spray the room with.”

Will the children of Newport Beach know the contents of a spray can better than the fragrance of a living plant?

MURIEL THOMPSON

Newport Beach

* If you like the unrestricted views and open spaces you see when you drive along Jamboree Road, Irvine Boulevard and Dover Drive, then vote yes on Measure A.

Don’t take these magnificent unbroken views for granted. Remember, action and commitment by Newport citizens kept Inspiration Point in Corona del Mar from becoming condominiums, high-rise towers from being built on Coast Highway, Cliff Drive from becoming the Pacific Coast Freeway, and the Upper Bay from becoming hotel sites. We don’t need more development. We need open spaces and panoramic views which enhance our property values.

Don’t be fooled by the 60% free land argument. Little of that free land can be developed or easily used.

The question is, do we buy the land or lose it? Vote yes on Measure A. It is the right decision and a small price to pay.

BOBBY LOVELL

Newport Beach