Message from Terry Welsh - President, Banning Ranch Conservancy
Newport Beach Planning Commission Study Sessions January 19 saw the first of four planned study sessions held by the Newport Beach planning commission. The feeling among those of us who attended the first session, which focused on Traffic Circulation and Sub-Division Mapping, was that the planning commissioners actually seemed to be listening to the public's comments. It is likely that the commissioners had never before heard the public's concerns on the proposed development. Many excellent points were raised in the evening, all of which pointed out the many serious problems with the proposed development.
One fact that was plain to everyone, however, is that despite these study sessions being designed for the Newport Beach planning department staff to educate the commissioners on the details of the proposed Banning Ranch development, the developers were given 25 minutes for an organized presentation, while the public was limited to 3 minutes per person at the comment period at the end of the evening. The Banning Ranch Conservancy is working on being granted time for a proper presentation at future study sessions.
The next study session is February 9, 4:30 p.m. at the Newport Beach Council Chambers, 3300 Balboa Boulevard, and the topic will be Open Space and Trails. There will be additional study sessions on February 23, 2012 (5:00 p.m.) and March 08, 2012 (4:30 p.m.). Note: the March 08 session has just been added and replaces the planned discussion of the dEIR that was scheduled for the regular Planning Commission meeting on February 23.
Huntington Beach City Council Votes to Oppose 19th Bridge Huntington Beach City Council members, at their meeting on January 17, approved sending a letter to the Orange County Transportation Authority to ask for the removal of the bridge from the County Master Plan of Arterial Highways (MPAH). This was in response to over 700 people attending and strongly voicing their opposition to the proposed bridge at a meeting on January 5, 2012 held at Eader School. Thank you to everyone who showed up!
Banning Ranch Conservancy Holds Its Annual Meeting On January 25, the Banning Ranch Conservancy held its annual meeting to elect board members and officers. We are looking forward to new board members this year. If you are interested in becoming a board member, please call 714-719-2148.
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