Report not necessary, city says

An environmental group suing Newport Beach and the City Council over a multimillion dollar development agreement with the Irvine Co. claims the city has not done enough research on how the plan will affect traffic and the environment.

“I hope to achieve making water quality a priority for the City Council and developers,” said activist Bob Caustin, founder of Defend the Bay.

The group filed a petition in Orange County Superior Court last week to challenge the legality of an agreement that creates a new planned community that merges two blocks of Newport Center, Fashion Island and San Joaquin Plaza to form North Newport Center Planned Community.

In total, the deal includes more than $40 million in development fees, road and park improvements and other benefits from the Irvine Co. The deal gives the Irvine Co. the go-ahead to build 430 apartment units in Newport Center.

The suit alleges the city should have completed a full report on what environmental impact the new planned community would have on the area.

“We consulted our legal counsel, and they said there was no need for a new environmental impact report,” said Councilman Steve Rosansky, who brokered the deal for the city along with Mayor Ed Selich.

Rosansky and other city officials said through the deal’s approval process that the city did not have to produce an Environmental Impact Report because the rights to build the apartments on the land are already part of the city’s General Plan.

“Suffice to say the deal is willfully insufficient as far as water quality,” Caustin said. “We think more should be done.”

The suit also alleges the agreement will create traffic gridlock in Newport Center, and the city hasn’t done enough research on the full impact the deal would have on traffic.

City and Irvine Co. officials claim the new planned community will be “traffic neutral” because of the area’s mix of office, retail and residential space.

Newport Beach City Council approved the development agreement in December. The deal includes $27 million in fees for the city to build city hall or other municipal buildings and an option for Newport to purchase property in the Newport Center block between Santa Rosa and San Nicholas drives for a new city hall at the city’s appraised price of about $7.7 million.

City Atty. Robin Clauson said Wednesday that although she had received a copy of Defend the Bay’s lawsuit, she had not had time yet to review the case.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].