A resident initiative to give voters more input on development in Newport Beach appears headed for the November ballot.
An Orange County Superior Court judge said after a hearing on Wednesday, Aug. 19, that the community group that collected the signatures to put the initiative to voters had met the requirement to make the ballot.
The city challenged in court whether a notice placed by a community group, known as the Newport Beach Stewardship Association for their “Responsible Housing Initiative,” complied with the elections code. City officials filed a legal brief in June, suggesting it didn’t, because the notice announcing it and its collection-of-signatures requirement were not published in what the city perceived as its paper of record, the Daily Pilot.
“The court found that the proponents substantially complied with the Election Code publication requirements,” City Attorney Aaron Harp said.
Harp said the city intends to ask an appeals court to consider the question.
Efforts to get the initiative on the ballot came after resident activists questioned the city’s current state-approved housing plan and suggested amending it by giving voters a chance to weigh in on their proposal that would allow for new housing units at an amount “that more than meets” state mandates, its supporters argue, but removes a buffer of additional units the city has built in.
The state has allocated 4,845 units to Newport Beach for planning, but the city has approved zoning and development standards that could accommodate up to 8,174 new homes. City officials have said they included a buffer in the event a project falls through.
The group submitted the initiative with the required number of signatures last fall, but in April, when it also submitted three new initiatives — related to processes at City Council meetings, term limits and how voters select council members — the city clerk noted that the public notice for the new initiatives was not properly published in what would be considered Newport Beach’s paper of record and then looked back at the initial effort.
Harp said that while he planned to file the required documents on Thursday, he doesn’t expect to have a ruling for a few days.
The deadline is approaching quickly for finalizing the ballot with the OC Registrar of Voters for printing.