Fighting foolish growth
Regarding the Oct. 9 Daily Pilot editorial “Greenlight shows
no-growth agenda,†none of the major concerns of the residents of the
city were addressed. To paraphrase a former president: It’s the
traffic congestion, stupid! It’s the quality of life of the
residents! It’s the potential decline in the property values of the
residents! It’s the dysfunctional City Council!
First and foremost, the original Greenlight Initiative --
Greenlight I -- that passed in 2000 has been an overwhelming success.
Ten major developments that added up to 40,000 average daily auto
trips to our streets would normally have been rubber stamped into
approval by the City Council. Instead, the residents spoke and, by a
63% majority vote, indicated they didn’t want that traffic. Can the
Pilot deny we are better off today not having to try to drive through
all those additional vehicles on our already congested streets?
Greenlight is not “no-growth,†as claimed by the Pilot. Greenlight
is for consideration of residents’ wishes for the city by giving them
the vote on major projects. If the residents vote down developments
that would produce excessive traffic, that is their will. Does the
Pilot believe the Greenlight Residents Group is making the voters
vote against their best interests? Or is it the newspaper’s fear that
the voters will continue to vote against the special interests that
the Pilot now so blatantly supports in concert with a majority of the
City Council.
Nowhere does the Pilot mention the 200,000 additional daily auto
trips that can be added to the city by the current general plan or
the 150,000 being proposed by the city’s update to that plan. Is this
because the pro-development Pilot knows that the city’s streets are
already congested and cannot accommodate the proposed additions
without incurring massive traffic congestion throughout the city?
Nowhere does the Pilot mention that over- congested streets and
high-density development will change the character of the city,
resulting in lower quality of life and lower property values for the
residents.
The Greenlight II initiative is both an extension of the original
Greenlight law and closes a loophole in it. It is designed to apply
the same voter approval requirements to the hopelessly outdated
current general plan. Unfortunately, an equally unsound general plan
update that adds more major development is now well on its way to
City Council approval. While the current Greenlight law will require
a vote on parts of the general plan update, both initiatives are
needed to bring excess development plans under control.
This new resident-protection initiative is needed because three
out of the five pro-development City Council members were originally
appointed to the council. The pro-development councilmen who were
elected did so with overwhelming campaign-money advantages and Pilot
endorsements. As these actions have produced a “single party†system,
the only realistic way for residents to get a voice in the City
Council is via this initiative process.
Another reason direct democracy is needed in the city is the
council is again disregarding the wishes of the residents and is
considering a massive politically and economically unachievable
street system augmentation. An official city poll reveals that
residents strongly oppose the massive widening of streets next to our
neighborhoods and provision of overpasses that would be needed to
accommodate all this additional traffic.
We do appreciate the Pilot’s editorial cartoon that shows a shark
labeled “Greenlight II†waiting to devour a poor innocent developer,
depicted as a small helpless female, seeking to make millions in
development profits in Newport at the expense of the residents. Shame
on the Pilot for taking up the cause of protecting the “poorâ€
developer and opposing the right of the residents to have a vote on
the future direction of the community, their property values and
quality of life.
The Pilot calls Greenlight “no-growth†for trying to provide the
residents of the city the right of approval on major developments
that will negatively impact their lives and property values. However,
we firmly believe the residents will vote positively for meritorious
developments like additions to Hoag Hospital. The Greenlight II
initiative enables the residents to vote for the growth they want,
and we in Greenlight will support them.
* PHILIP ARST is the spokesman for the Greenlight Residents Group.
JOHN FRANSEN is a member of the Greenlight steering committee.
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