Insider’s Guide for the Newport Beach City Council Meeting on Oct. 13

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City Manager Grace Leung

By Grace Leung | Newport Beach City Manager

Our next City Council meeting is Tuesday, October 13. Items that may be of interest are highlighted below. The entire agenda, and all reports, can be viewed at https://www.newportbeachca.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/54190/72.

There will be a Closed Session at 4 p.m. and there is no Study Session.

The Regular Meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. The following are items of note:

On the Consent Calendar:

  • Award of contract for the Via Lido Soud and Nord Water Main Replacement Project – This project replaces deteriorated water mains installed in the 1930’s and is the first phase of water main replacements for Lido Isle in the Water Master Plan and funded within the Water Fund, which is funded by water rates.
  • Approval is requested for the Parking Meter Replacement Plan, which accelerates the conversion from single space meters to pay stations and pay-by-phone mobile application. Because the existing single space parking meters are deteriorated and will no longer be supported by the existing technology, and with the increased acceptance of mobile payments, the plan is to replace the remaining 821 meters with 58 pay stations, significantly reducing the capital and ongoing maintenance costs.

Public Hearings include:

  • As discussed at a Study Session on September 8, 2020, City Council will consider additional regulations regarding Short-Term Lodging.These include a minimum 3-night stay, a maximum cap of 1,550 short term lodging permits, minimum age for renters of 25 years old, and allowing transfer of permits under specific circumstances. Additionally, there is a proposed revision to allow an owner to be cited if a user receives a parking ticket while utilizing a short-term lodging unit.

Current Business includes:

  • The City has received its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation from the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) for the Sixth Cycle Housing Element and can now appeal that number of 4,834 units. Firmly challenging the allocation is part of the City’s Housing Action Plan.The basis of the appeal will be discussed and the purpose and responsibilities of the Council-appointed Housing Element Update Advisory Committee, specifically related to the Circulation Element Update.

Thank you for reading.  Feedback is appreciated so please don’t hesitate to ask a question or offer a comment.

Grace K. Leung, City Manager, can be contacted at [email protected].

City council meeting

City Council Meeting Information

The Newport Beach City Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of most months (the exceptions are August and December). Typically, there is a Study Session that starts at 4 p.m. Study sessions are times for the Council to take a deeper look at a specific issue, or hear a presentation, that might eventually lead to a specific and more formal action. A closed session often follows the Study Session. Closed sessions are typically to address legal, personnel, and other matters where additional confidentiality is important.

The Regular (evening) Session typically starts at 7 p.m. unless otherwise listed, and often has a specific listing of different items ready for formal votes. Items on the “Consent Calendar” are heard all at once, unless a Council member has removed (aka “pulled”) an item from the Consent Calendar for specific discussion and separate vote.

If an item on the agenda is recommended to be “continued,” it means that the item won’t be heard nor voted on that evening, but will be pushed forward to another noticed meeting.

Public Comment is welcomed at both the Study Session and the Regular Session. The public can comment on any item on the agenda. If you want to comment on a Consent Calendar item that was not pulled from the Consent Calendar by a Council Member, you will want to do so at the time listed on the agenda – right before the Council votes on the entire Consent Calendar (it’s Roman Numeral XIII on the posted agenda).

If an item is pulled, the Mayor will offer that members of the public can comment as that specific item is heard separately. Additionally, there is a specific section of Public Comment for items not on the agenda, but on a subject of some relationship to the city government.

If you cannot attend a meeting and/or want to communicate with the City Council directly, this e-mail gets to all of them: [email protected]. The City Manager also gets a copy of the email, because in almost all cases it’s something that the City Manager follows-up on.

The Council meets in the Council Chambers at 100 Civic Center Drive, off of Avocado between San Miguel and East Coast Highway. There is plenty of parking in the parking structure. You are always welcome to attend in person, but you can also watch on TV, Spectrum channel 30 and Cox channel 852 or stream it on your computer.

This Insider’s Guide is not an attempt to summarize every item on the Agenda – just the ones that seem of specific interest to the City Manager. You are encouraged to read the full agenda if you wish.

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