ON THE AGENDA Here are some items...

ON THE AGENDA

Here are some items to be considered by the Newport Beach City

Council tonight.

MESA-BIRCH REDEVELOPMENT

The City Council will consider whether to send a letter to Orange

County Supervisor Jim Silva asking the county to make two parcels in

Santa Ana Heights into a passive park rather than turn it into a

parking lot as requested by the Newport Executive Corp., LLC. While

the land is in the city, it is owned by the county and is part of a

redevelopment area under county jurisdiction.

Later this month, supervisors are expected to consider the

corporation’s proposal to buy the parcels and build a parking lot to

serve office facilities planned for two nearby lots. If the land

becomes a park, the city would agree to spend about $6,000 per year

to maintain it.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Residents on the Santa Ana Heights Project Advisory Committee have

asked the city and county for the park. City staff members have

recommended seconding the request in a letter to the county, and

council members probably will agree.

CITY FEE INCREASES

A proposed change to the city’s master fee schedule would update

fees charged for a host of services from the recreation, police,

building, planning and other departments. The adjustment, done

annually, is based on a formula from a 1996 city study that factors

inflation. The range of fee changes would include increasing the fee

for a bike license from $3.70 to $4 and hiking permit fees for

building improvements worth up to $2,000 to a flat $67 from a rate

that now starts at $22.10.

WHAT TO EXPECT

No public opposition is expected and council probably will approve

the fee increases, which are done each year to ensure the city

recovers the cost of services it performs.

MARINER’S MILE

The city would spend $64,540 to hire Irvine-based RBF Consulting,

if council members approve a contract with the firm to assess the

environmental impact of a shopping center proposed for the west side

of Coast Highway north of Dover Drive. Because the proposed uses

appear to fall within what’s allowed by the zoning code, a full

environmental impact report would not be required.

No formal development plans have been submitted, but the proposal

will include a 56,000-square-foot retail site with 100,000 square

feet of underground parking.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The City Council will need environmental information to evaluate

any development proposal, but Councilman Don Webb said he hasn’t

gotten any indication how council members will go on the issue. The

project lies in his district.

“It kind of hasn’t hit anybody’s radar screen yet,” he said. “This

is the first step in the process.”