WEEK IN REVIEW

The City Council rolled out the welcome mat for a flagship Ikea

furniture store, 192 homes and a mix of commercial and industrial land

use when it endorsed the Home Ranch development last week.

Council members approved the environmental report, general and

specific plan amendments, rezoning of the site, the Ikea master plan and

a tentative development agreement.

In a surprising move -- angering many major supporters -- Councilman

Chris Steel voted in favor of every component of the project except the

development agreement. He opposed the agreement, saying he didn’t want it

to look like he was bribed.

Councilwoman Linda Dixon, who was considered by most to be the swing

vote, made her support for the project clear and called it the best land

use for the 93 acres north of the San Diego Freeway. Mayor Libby Cowan

and Councilman Gary Monahan echoed her sentiments, commending city staff

and developer C.J. Segerstrom for working together to create a high

quality project.

As expected, Councilwoman Karen Robinson remained in lock step with

anti-Home Ranch activists -- also her major supporters -- providing the

lone opposing vote on every aspect of the project.-- Lolita Harper covers

Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or by e-mail at o7

[email protected] .

Newport Beach screams ‘No!’

Voters emphatically shot down Measure G on Tuesday, stopping the

planned expansion of the Koll Center office complex at the intersection

of MacArthur Boulevard and Jamboree Road.

The election brought about 22% of Newport Beach voters to the polls to

defeat the 250,000-square-foot expansion of the Koll Center by a vote of

6,251 to 4,256.

The election was the first time the city’s slow-growth Greenlight

Initiative was put into action in the form of a special election. The

initiative says voters must approve of projects large enough to require

an amendment to the city’s General Plan.

And Koll was not alone in getting bad news. A surprise overturn of the

Newport Coast annexation appears to have itself been overturned -- making

it all but assured that the upscale unincorporated area will become part

of Newport Beach proper. The 1,072 signatures that had been filed to stop

annexation of the roughly 2,600-home community turned out to include only

658 valid signatures of registered voters -- about 200 short of the

number needed to stop annexation.

American Legion members at Marinapark are just the first hurdle a

developer will have to clear before building a controversial luxury

resort there. Developer Stephen Sutherland said he will file revised

plans with the city this week for the 186-room resort and the new hall

for the American Legion post that’s been there since 1949.

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

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

Freak accident claims Costa Mesa boy

A 17-year-old Costa Mesa boy was killed Monday night in a freak

incident when a basketball backboard came crashing down and hit him on

the head as he possibly tried to slam-dunk, police said.

Jose Emmanuel Nieto was playing basketball with friends in his front

yard when the incident happened. He continued playing even after the

backboard fell and then went inside to sleep, officials said. Friends

panicked and called the police when they saw Nieto was not breathing.

He was taken to Hoag Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Nieto was renting a room in that house in the 600 block of Surf

Street. His parents live in Mexico, his house mates said.

The Orange County Coroner’s preliminary autopsy tests proved

inconclusive. They will perform more tests on him, results of which will

not be available for four to six weeks.

-- Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached

at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .

A friendly day to fly

John Wayne Airport cooked with activity on Wednesday, the busiest day

of the year, as Thanksgiving Day travelers headed out to visit relatives.

They weren’t rejoicing about spending time with the family of

travelers who shared delays brought on by tighter security in the

post-Sept. 11 world. But, surprisingly, many didn’t mind the added

procedures -- the searches of trunks and closer scrutiny of carry-on

bags.

Nathan Engels, a Newport Beach resident heading to Dallas, summed it

up when he said the measures were “no big deal.”

Justin Hodgdon, a Beverly Hills resident who deliberately avoided Los

Angeles International, said he thought the new security measures should

be “a way of life.”

Heading into the weekend, the airport saw a steady flow of travelers,

though not as many as airline officials had optimistically predicted

would return to their planes.

-- Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may

be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail ato7

[email protected] .

Teaching about a raise

Teachers and district officials have come to a tentative agreement for

a salary raise, including 6% for this year, 3% for next year and a

variety of other elements.

Both sides said the negotiations went well and were quick to praise

the other.

The teachers will vote on the agreement on Nov. 30. A simple majority

is needed to pass.-- Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached

at (949) 574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .