City hall awaits ballot

The ballot box showdown between supporters and opponents of building Newport Beach’s city hall by the central library could officially begin today.

The Newport Beach City Council will vote tonight on whether to place a measure on the February ballot that would require city hall to be built on 12.8 acres on Avocado Avenue. A 1992 agreement with the Irvine Co. designated part of the site as a park, and the majority of the council has rejected using it for a city hall.

But some residents said it is the best option — it’s near the city’s center, unlike the existing City Hall on the Balboa Peninsula, and the city already owns it, unlike other parcels that have been suggested.

Architect Bill Ficker spearheaded a ballot drive, and supporters learned last week they collected enough valid signatures to get on the ballot.

The council decides when to put the issue on the ballot, either in one of three regular elections in 2008 or in a special election, which would cost significantly more. Ficker has planned for the February election, which would cost about $116,000, and council members seem to be leaning toward that.

“To the extent that there are no problems with the initiative, I think that we would move to put it on the first possible ballot and get it behind us,” said Councilman Keith Curry, who opposes building on the park site.

Before the meeting, the council will discuss behind closed doors the possibility of a legal challenge to the petition, but it’s unclear how real the threat is.

Allan Beek, a member of the ballot measure opposition group Parks Are Priceless, wrote in an Aug. 27 letter to the city that the petition “is not legally suitable to be placed on the ballot” for several reasons, which he cited along with case law. He told the Daily Pilot last week he would sue the city if the measure goes to the ballot, but he has not elaborated on that comment.

Parks Are Priceless member Karen Tringali said the committee is not pursing legal action, but that doesn’t preclude individual members from doing so. Rather, she said the group’s focus is on educating voters before the Feb. 5 election.

Ficker said Monday he hasn’t heard anything about legal challenges. “It’s been awfully quiet,” he said. “I hope that’s a good sign.”

Campaigning is likely to begin immediately. Curry said he expects the measure to lose at the ballot, partly because the city is negotiating with the Irvine Co. for a parcel in the 500 block of Newport Center Drive, just down the road from the park site.

“At the end of the day I think it’s going to be a more expensive site than one a block and a half away,” he said.

A July report estimated it would cost $55 million to build on the park parcel. No cost information is available for the Irvine Co. site, but the city hall and parking facilities could run about $40 million.

ALICIA ROBINSON may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at [email protected].