Greenlight Could Give Two Longtime Projects a Red Light

When voters in Newport Beach decide whether to impose a stringent anti-growth measure next month, they may also be indirectly deciding the fate of two major development proposals that have been in the works since long before the Greenlight Initiative won a place on the ballot.

The manager of the 30-acre Newport Dunes project said Thursday it might be scaled back significantly.

And communications chip maker Conexant Systems Inc. has said it will look beyond the city limits for its future expansion needs, rather than subject its 20-year plan for an eventual 566,000-square-foot expansion to a citywide vote, as the so-called Greenlight Initiative would require.

“We’re a major player in the city of Newport Beach,” said Conexant spokeswoman Lisa Briggs, noting the company provides $2.5 million in revenue to the city annually. “We have to expand our facility to grow our business. If Greenlight passes, then we’ll have to look elsewhere. That’s not a threat. It just is what it is.”

Conexant has announced it will spin off one of its divisions into a separate company in January, and the new firm’s location might also hinge on the Greenlight vote, Briggs said. Conexant’s plan, which would add two high-rise office buildings and expand the high-tech company’s semiconductor fabrication facility, has been in the works for more than a year. With a few aspects of the plan still unresolved, it will not move forward before the election.

Under the Greenlight Initiative, any development proposal would trigger a citywide vote if it exceeded the city’s General Plan for a specific area by 40,000 square feet, 100 residential units or 100 peak-hour car trips. In areas of the city already highly developed--including the zone near John Wayne Airport, where Conexant’s headquarters is--the measure would require a vote for even small-scale expansion.

Developers of the Newport Dunes project already have authority to build a 275-room motel on the site but have been seeking permission from the city to expand the plans to include a 470-room hotel and conference center. Newport Dunes project manager Tim Quinn said Thursday the company is considering returning to the original, smaller plans because of Greenlight and other factors.