The will of the voters must be followed

Tom Billings

On Election Day 2004, Newport Beach voters exercised that most

important democratic right: to vote their will. Sixty-seven percent

voted against Measure L, the ballot initiative that asked them to

choose between a hotel and public parkland.

The name of the volunteer public opposition group and the wording

of the ballot arguments and election statements made this choice

clear. Protect Our Parks, the community advocacy group that

spearheaded the “Vote No on L” campaign, did its job to make sure

that the city not be allowed to make a land-use change, converting

designated public parkland to commercial use. Now the city must act.

The city’s responsibility

With the resounding defeat of Measure L, the city must carry out

its mandate to follow the will of the voters and begin the process of

planning and building a public park on the 8-acre Marinapark site.

However, soon after the election, Protect Our Parks

representatives met with then Councilman Tod Ridgeway and City

Manager Homer Bludau in an effort to jump start the planning process.

Unbelievably, much of the meeting was taken up with discussion of

another commercial venture for the site that they were considering.

To maximize revenue to the city on this site would be a blatant

rejection of the will of the voters.

If the will of the voters is to be followed, we believe that an ad

hoc blue ribbon committee must be charged with soliciting citizen

input and guiding the planning process. It must be a small, carefully

selected and representative group that can approach the task with an

open mind in an apolitical way. (While the City Council must be

represented on such a group, Ridgeway and Mayor Steve Bromberg, two

long-time advocates for commercial development of this site, should

pass this responsibility on to other council members.)

Deadlines should be established for committee results, and the

city should initiate the legal process for removing mobile-home

residents so that timing can be coordinated with park development.

Essential elements to be considered

Protect Our Parks has surveyed its membership and believes that

the following elements, among others to be developed, should be

considered in the planning process for Marinapark:

* The natural features of the site should be exploited to

emphasize a beach/marine theme with open views of the bay a priority.

* Landscaping should emphasize a “green” passive park and open

space, and walkways should encourage pedestrian traffic.

* Parking should be oriented to the street and should not intrude

upon the site.

* Restrooms, showers and similar public facilities should be

geared to beach needs.

* Well-designed facilities for storage and hand-launching of

small, non-motorized craft should be included (primarily for kayaks

and canoes).

* At least one, but probably no more than two, tennis courts seems

appropriate based on present usage; they should be oriented so as not

to block views.

* The Girl Scout House should be refurbished and reequipped if

deemed practical from an engineering standpoint. Otherwise, it should

be suitably replaced.

* The Tot Lot or its equivalent should be relocated away from the

street and integrated with beach facilities. The future of the

community center is an open question, with the present facility in

deplorable shape and not enough data yet available regarding usage to

determine need. Most important, revenue-generating potential should

not be a dominant factor in planning. However, private, state and

federal funding opportunities should be explored to the fullest.

* TOM BILLINGS is the founder of Protect Our Parks, a nonprofit

organization whose mission is to protect public parkland and preserve

open space.