Community Members:

Thank you to residents and stakeholders who wrote to us and voiced your opinions during the March 14 City Council meeting on the topic of fractional homeownership. After months of effort by the City's Planning Commission and extensive public input, Council members voted unanimously to uphold a "preferred" recommendation from the Planning Commission that will effectively prohibit fractional ownership in residential zoning districts. 

The Council's decision will broaden the definition of timeshare to include fractional homeownership. Since timeshare properties are not permitted in residential zones, the Council decision will make them illegal in residential neighborhoods. 

Fractional ownership is where multiple property buyers, generally organized under an umbrella corporation, purchase percentages of homes for the right to use the home part-time. Many residents have expressed concerns about noise, parking, high turnover, and other neighborhood impacts that may arise with short-term stays. 

Following a September 2022 study session, the City's Planning Commission examined the issue through an ad hoc committee, which met with residents and stakeholders and issued a set of recommendations for Council consideration. The Council declined to explore the commission’s alternative recommendation to create a regulatory framework that would have allowed fractional homeownership under a set of restrictive conditions.

The issue will return next month to the Planning Commission, which will conduct a public hearing on a draft ordinance to amend the City's Municipal Code. In May, the ordinance will be presented to the City Council for approval and submitted to the California Coastal Commission for the amendments in our Local Coastal Program (Title 21).

City Manager, Grace K. Leung

Residents can now submit home solar power projects electronically for plan review and permit issuance, eliminating the need to visit the City Hall Permit Center. The service is available through the CiViC (Newport Beach City Virtual Connect) online portal.

In June the City plans to launch an additional option, to submit residential plans entirely online for new construction, additions, and remodels. Commercial projects will follow, by the end of this year. These improvements are part of an ongoing effort to expand online services for our residents and developer community.   

The CiViC site can be accessed at https://www.newportbeachca.gov/civic.

Join us on April 22 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Newport Beach Corporation Yard, 592 Superior Ave., for an Earth Day event brought to you by the City of Newport Beach and CR&R.

The event will feature free document shredding, e-waste disposal, and a compost giveaway. Residents can bring up to 10 standard file boxes of documents for shredding and can receive up to five, 30-lb. bags of compost while supplies last. Please note that residency will be verified, so don't forget to bring identification.

Our shredder can accommodate most materials including bank and financial statements, credit card statements or pre-approved credit card offers, old IRS tax forms, checks or bills, old credit cards and plastic/paper membership cards, junk mail, and documents bound with staples or paper clips. Please note that x-rays or larger plastic items such as binders cannot be accepted.

Acceptable items for e-waste disposal include computers, computer monitors, keyboards, televisions, flat panels, other monitors, printers, DVD players, cell phones, and other small electronic devices. Medical waste, batteries and other household hazardous waste will not be accepted.

For more information, please contact our Public Works Department at 949-718-3055.

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 works closely with the City’s police and fire departments.

This week, the Be Well team:

• Transported a client to the Orange Police Department to remove a hold on his photo ID application.
• Completed a paperwork packet with a client to secure an Emergency Housing Voucher.
• Met with a client to deliver a new phone and review his housing plan.
• Met with a client to start postal service at Share Our Selves.
• Met with two older adults to review housing and assisted living options.