Overgrown gully targeted

Alicia Robinson

City officials will try to balance the competing concerns of fire,

water and private-property rights as they explore new rules for

planting and irrigation on slopes around Buck Gully and Morning

Canyon.

At a study session Tuesday, council members and residents heard

about a comprehensive program for the Newport Coast watershed that

includes ordinances to decrease the risk of fire in the Buck Gully

area and protect environmentally sensitive coastal waters by limiting

runoff.

To solve the problem of overgrowth, city staff members proposed a

new ordinance that would require residents to landscape with

fire-resistant plants that don’t grow too large. Another possible

measure would help decrease runoff by encouraging residents to use

irrigation systems with weather- or moisture-sensing controls rather

than automatic timers.

Some of the 50 residents who came to Tuesday’s meeting weren’t

sure what plants would fall within the recommended “native-type

species,” and some didn’t like the idea of being told what to plant.

“I collect fruit trees,” said Herb Lee, who lives on Morning

Canyon, just off Coast Highway. “Now, probably none of my fruit trees

are indigenous to this area.

“What you’re doing is you’re eliminating the noise barrier [from

the highway], what little is there now, by removing the

non-indigenous plants and trees.”

Transients sometimes camp out in the canyon, and young people hide

out there to smoke, and those activities can create fire hazards, Lee

said.

“I think if we can keep people out of the canyon, we’ll be a whole

lot better off,” he said.

David Michael, who lives on Rockford Road, said he and his

neighbors have had to perform maintenance because of slope failures

in his part of the canyon.

“My largest concern is that we’re going to have additional slope

failure,” he said. “The city has neglected its obligation to maintain

[an] easement for drainage.... You can’t tell me, a homeowner on a

piece of private property, what I can and can’t plant there.”

Other residents were worried about how the wildlife habitat in the

now-lush canyon would be affected by planting changes.

Councilman Don Webb questioned the principle of spending public

money on improvements in an area that isn’t open to the public, and

Councilman Dick Nichols suggested working with Orange County, which

owns some of the property in the area.

Council members did not vote on the item, but Mayor Tod Ridgeway

directed staff members to move forward with the plan, which includes

new ordinances, creating a citizen’s education and outreach

committee, and integrating fire prevention and conservation

activities among seven city departments.

The city would pay for any programs associated with the new

ordinances with a $1.1 million grant from the State Water Resources

Control Board, and residents could be asked to share some costs.

Any ordinances or spending plans for the watershed program will

need to be approved by the council. For information on the program,

visit https://cleanwaternewport.com.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

[email protected].