Community Members: 

Congratulations to all those from the Newport Beach Fire Department who were recognized at the 24th Annual Fire & Lifeguard Appreciation Dinner on Tuesday, September 20:

• Letters of commendations were awarded to lifeguards Jason Aigner and Carly Christian.
• Awards of merit went to Fire Engineer Erin Brown, Firefighter-paramedic Chad Duncan and Firefighter Jude Olivas.
• Life saving awards were given to Fire Captain Jim Boland, Firefighter-paramedic Geoff Cathey, Fire Engineer Peter Garcia, Firefighter-paramedic Jeremiah Martin, and Firefighter-paramedic Aaron Reed.
• Medal of Valor awards were presented to Lifeguard Andrew Belden, Fire Engineer Mark Garman, Lifeguard Captain Andy Hayes, Fire Engineer Travis Shook, and Fire Captain Jimmy Strack. 
• Foster Hoose was awarded the 2022 Seasonal Lifeguard of the Year. Foster has served the City as a seasonal lifeguard since 2016, and is now working as a deckhand on the Fire Department's sea watch rescue boats. 
• 2022 Civilian of the Year honors went to Ralph Gerardo, fire facilities coordinator. Ralph, who has served as an Orange County Fire Authority reserve firefighter, has been with the City of Newport Beach for more than 7 years. 
• Jon Mitchell was named the 2022 Lifeguard Supervisor of the Year. Jon joined the Fire Department in 1987 as a tower lifeguard and rose through the ranks to become a lifeguard captain in 2006. 
• Our 2022 Firefighter of the Year is Chad Spiker. Chad is a 17-year veteran of the Newport Beach Fire Department, and has spent the past 9 years as a fire captain. Chad is described by his colleagues as a "selfless leader" who "demonstrates daily his commitment to improving the department.

Please join me in congratulating the award winners and thanking all of our firefighters and lifeguards for their service to our residents and visitors. 

City Manager, Grace K. Leung

The City is inviting residents to apply for the General Plan Advisory Committee, or GPAC, to participate in a comprehensive update of the City's General Plan. All California cities are required to develop general plans to serve as blueprints for the future, outlining policy goals and objectives to guide and shape development. The last comprehensive update to Newport Beach's General Plan was in 2006. 

The advisory committee members will be tasked with helping ensure community input, reviewing and guiding changes to the General Plan goals and policies, and making recommendations to the General Plan Steering Committee, a smaller group that will oversee the GPAC and report directly to the City Council. The GPAC will meet as necessary on weeknights or weekdays, Monday through Thursday, at a time to be set by the committee. Meetings will be held at the Civic Center, 100 Civic Center Drive. 

For more information and applications visit www.newportbeachca.gov/vacancy or contact the City Clerk's Office at (949) 644-3005. The application deadline is Wednesday, September 28 at noon.

Residents are invited to attend a community meeting on the City's Snowy Plover Management Plan at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, September 26 at Marina Park, 1600 Balboa Blvd. 

The Western Snowy Plover is a small shorebird found along the Pacific Coast. Plovers are listed as a “threatened” species, federally protected under the Endangered Species Act. A population of plovers lives on the Balboa Peninsula for most of the year.

In 2009 the City initiated a management plan for the area that included monitoring the critical Plover habitat area and installing fencing. In July 2022, the City submitted an updated draft of the Western Snowy Plover Management Plan to the California Coastal Commission. The draft is available here.

For more information, please contact Senior Planner Chelsea Crager at ccrager@newportbeachca.gov or 949-644-3227.

The Civic Center Dog Park will close for several weeks beginning Monday, October 3 for a refurbishment project. The City will install new shade structures and fence screening, replace synthetic turf and water fountains, repair uplifted sidewalk panels and other incidental items.

The Dog Park will be closed for the duration of the project and is anticipated to reopen in mid-November.

For questions or concerns, please contact the City's Public Works Department at pwinfo@newportbeachca.gov or (949) 644-3311.

Orange County Public Works crews, in coordination with the City of Newport Beach, will be at the Santa Ana River outlet to perform annual flood control maintenance from September 26 through late November.

County crews will remove approximately 70,000 cubic yards of accumulated sand from the channel outlet between Pacific Coast Highway and the shoreline. Removing excess sand minimizes potential flood risks during rain events and maintains natural tidal flow with the adjacent Newport Shores marsh area.

After any debris is removed, the sand will be used to replenish the beach areas between 52nd Street and 40th Street, where the extra sand will be most beneficial. For more details please visit www.OCPublicWorks.com/news. 

The Be Well mobile crisis response team operates in Newport Beach 12 hours a day, 7 days a week to respond to mental and behavioral health crises. The mobile unit is staffed with mental health specialists and EMTs, and works closely with the City’s police and fire departments.

This week the Be Well team:

• Engaged with the community at the Newport Beach Police Department’s Mobile Café at Newport Pier.
• Transported one person to a crisis stabilization unit for treatment.
• Transported two people to the Be Well sobering station for treatment.
• Transported four people to services, shelter intakes, and appointments.
• Filed an Adult Protective Services report for an older adult experiencing dementia.

On the Agenda: City Council Meeting for Sept. 27

Our next City Council meeting is Tuesday, September 27. Items of interest are highlighted below. The entire agenda and reports can be viewed here.

A special meeting will begin at 4 p.m. with one agenda item:

• A resolution to address fractional homeownership. The Council will consider a resolution to initiate zoning code and local coastal program amendments related to fractional ownership. As discussed in a Sept. 13 Council study session, fractional homeownership is a growing trend where multiple owners purchase a property and split time at the property through a formal arrangement. If Council members initiate proposed amendments, specific text changes would then be drafted and considered by the Planning Commission and the City Council at future public hearings.   

The regular session begins at 5:30 p.m.  Agenda items include:

• A public hearing and consideration of an ordinance to amend a development agreement for the Tennis Club of Newport Beach at 1602 E. Coast Highway. The applicant has requested an amendment to the approved project that would increase the number of tennis courts and hotel rooms, increase the floor area of ancillary hotel uses, and provide three attached condominium units and two detached single-family residences in-lieu of five detached single-family residences. The request also includes a 10-year term extension to the approved project development agreement.
• Public hearing on the Community Development Block Grant Program 2021-22 annual performance and evaluation report. This year's grant funding supported a senior mobile meals program, a homelessness prevention program, fair housing services, a motel voucher program for homeless individuals, and the final payment of debt service for a loan that funded public improvements in Balboa Village.