Newport’s View of Law Is Disputed

Proponents of a landmark slow-growth measure passed in 2000 say Newport Beach officials are misinterpreting the initiative.

Greenlight, the group that helped draft and pass the initiative calling for a citizen vote on major projects, alleges that the city is skirting the intent of the measure by exempting hotels and theaters from its requirements.

In a letter to the city attorney made public Wednesday, lawyers for Greenlight argue that the city’s interpretation of the measure is “clearly wrong” and states that the group will ask a judge to intervene unless Newport Beach changes its guidelines.

Newport Beach Mayor Tod W. Ridgeway declined to comment, citing the lawsuit threat.

At the center of the dispute is the 110-room Regent Newport Beach Resort proposed for the Balboa Peninsula. The City Council voted last year to put the 110,00-square-foot project to a citizen vote in line with the spirit of the Greenlight initiative, even though it was technically exempt from the requirement.

The initiative requires a popular vote on all projects that add more than 40,000 square feet of building space or exceed general plan guidelines. But when writing the initiative into law, officials exempted hotels and theaters because the city’s general plan measures such developments by rooms and seats, not square footage.

Greenlight advocates say the council’s decision to put the Regent project to a citizen vote sets a bad precedent because future projects would not be required by law to be put to a vote. Instead, a vote would be dependent on the political whims of the City Council.

And that was not the intent of the measure, said Philip Arst, a spokesman for Greenlight and coauthor of the initiative. “It is an artful way to dodge the will of the people,” Arst said.

The city’s decision also exempts the project from some public disclosure requirements under the initiative, also known as Measure S.

Richard Luehrs, president of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, which opposed Measure S, said Greenlight was overreaching.

The city is planning to “put the project before the people,” Luehrs said. “That is what Greenlight wanted in the first place. I don’t understand their position.”

Measure S passed with 63% of the votes, making Newport Beach the only city in Orange County, and one of few in the state, that requires special votes on large development projects.