Gates can’t stop new clean-water regulations

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- Gated communities could turn out to be one of the

biggest problems for the city when some tough new water-quality rules are

adopted next month.

Still, street sweeping in these secluded subdivisions, and the parking

enforcement to make sweeping worthwhile, merely top the list of

controversies the city must face as the county prepares to renew its

permit with the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board.

At its meeting Tuesday, the City Council will consider sending a

letter to the board calling for stringent rules to keep the county’s

trash out of local waters. New rules are required by the board for the

county to renew its five-year permit to operate storm drains and manage

urban runoff.

One of the most important things cities do to keep debris from washing

into the ocean and bay is to sweep streets regularly. But gated

communities are on their own when it comes to complying with terms of the

urban runoff permit. And they will be among the first places the city

looks when it begins cracking down to meet the new requirements.

“We would have to make sure the gated communities are complying with

terms of the permit,” said Tom Houston, a member of the city’s Harbor

Quality Citizens Advisory Committee.

Enforcement of the new rules will be a big expense for the 34 cities

under the county permit. In Newport Beach, this could mean hiring staff

to ensure that the city’s many gated communities conduct weekly street

sweeping. These areas will likely include the subdivisions of Newport

Coast, Linda Isle, Jasmine Creek, Big Canyon and other areas. It will

also mean enforcing parking in Newport Heights, where the city now turns

a blind eye to parking scofflaws.

“When a street sweeper comes by and a car is parked on the street,

whatever’s under that car will end up in the storm drains,” City

Councilman Tod Ridgeway explained.

But the biggest fights over the new permit will come from outside the

city’s borders.

“Coastal cities are at the opposite ends of the spectrum from inland

cities,” Ridgeway said.

As stewards of the county’s coast, cities such as Newport Beach have

long had to comply with tough water-quality rules. But as the focus of

environmental efforts spreads to watershed cities, these inland areas are

facing big increases in the costs of controlling urban runoff.

Tuesday’s Newport Beach City Council agenda is thus likely to prove

unpopular with neighbors.

The letter officials may choose to send to the water-quality board

endorses most of the board’s proposed rules, including increased public

education, inspection for construction sites and municipal facilities,

better cleaning of catch basins and other requirements for all Orange

County cities.

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .