Voters red light Koll’s expansion

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- A developer’s $50-million dream appeared to be on its

way to defeat Tuesday as residents voted to shoot down Measure G.

Votes stacked 6,251 to 4,256 against Koll Center expansion and set the

tone for the anti-development sentiments espoused in ballots cast

Tuesday. With all 25 precincts reporting, 59.5% voted against the

project.

“I’m very pleased,” said Evelyn Hart, a member of the Greenlight

Committee, which opposed the measure to add 250,000 square feet to the

existing Koll Center at the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and Jamboree

Road. “It shows the people were very serious about Greenlight when they

voted it in.”

Tuesday’s vote was the first under the city’s Greenlight Initiative,

which requires a special election for projects large enough to require an

amendment to the city’s general plan. The project to expand the Koll

Center near the airport had been in the works for years when Greenlight

was approved last November -- putting the brakes on the Koll expansion

until it could be put to a vote.

Opponents said the sprawling project, with its 10-story office tower

and added parking structure, would bring traffic and increased demand for

flights at John Wayne Airport. Supporters countered that the $3 million

that would have been paid by the developer for traffic improvements was

sufficient to justify the project.

“We are obviously very disappointed by the results,” said Tim Strader,

president of Koll Center developer Starpointe Ventures. “The fact that

only a small percent of the registered voters decided to vote is further

proof that planning issues should not be decided by popularity contests.”

Strader said he had not yet decided whether to fight the decision.

“I need to look at all the information to make that decision,” Strader

said.

About 22% of the city’s 47,422 registered voters went to the polls

Tuesday. As they trickled in to polling places throughout the city,

turnout seemed low. But such ho-hum response is typical of special

elections, City Clerk LaVonne Harkless said.

Campaign mailers from both camps had included absentee ballot

applications, likely helping bring to 5,727 the absentee votes received

by the county registrar’s office by Tuesday.

“I feel like it’s my duty as a citizen to vote,” said Patti Cox, one

of three voters who between 5:15 and 5:45 p.m. cast a ballot at City

Hall. “We saw in the last election how important each vote can be.”

Greenlight Committee members say they will continue to fight for slow

growth, especially as council members consider plans for updating the

city’s general plan.

“With five very large projects coming forward, we have a continual

amount of work to do,” Hart said.

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .