O.C. activist led ‘Greenlight’ push
Philip Arst, 79, a community activist who worked to limit development and traffic in Newport Beach, died Wednesday at Victoria Healthcare Center in Costa Mesa from complications of a liver transplant four years ago, his family said.
Arst led the drive in 2000 to pass Measure S, better known as the Greenlight Initiative, which required voter approval on construction projects that significantly exceeded the guidelines in Newport Beach’s General Plan.
The new law put the brakes on several large commercial developments, although voters approved new guidelines in 2006 that essentially nullified Greenlight’s effectiveness.
Born July 2, 1929, in Chicago, Arst attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and served in the Korean War.
He returned to Chicago to get married and earn his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago.
Arst moved with his family to Van Nuys, then to Corona del Mar, and worked as an engineer and businessman.
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