Save Newport Real News in Newport Beach
Tonight, the Newport Beach City Council will be voting on two items of merit:
The first one is a full-out ban of any bicycles on the boardwalk during summertime weekends, making the boardwalk PEDESTRIAN-ONLY, and forcing all traffic into the roadways. Merchants in the area say that about one-third of business comes from bicycles, so this could be a devastating blow to the local economy. This plan, proposed by Assembly Candidate Diane Dixon and backed by Councilmen Brad Avery and Jeff Herdman– both running for reelection– (along with incumbent Joy Brenner) will be voted on tonight.
Costa Mesa Brief did a video on it (and this writer was the one interviewing people!), where they asked what people thought– right there on the boardwalk in McFadden Square. You can watch that video, here: https://youtu.be/OKP2xiiBrbI
If you wish to have your voice heard to stop the bike ban, please sign the petition at http://savenewport.com/bikeban
EDIT: Politicians are saying this is not what they meant when they said “pedestrian-only”, due to public pressure. Hear them say it in their own words, here:
https://newportbeach.granicus.com/mediaplayer.php?clip_id=3563&meta_id=363597
@ time stamp 4:25:45 & @ 4:29:30, which is where they lay it out, verbatim.
Or, jump straight to the juicy stuff, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Ufd2XCM18
and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKpIRjZotYE
The second big item on the agenda is to revoke property rights for rental homes, revoking their freedom to rent out nights and weekends, and instead restricting them to rent only to people who wish to stay longer (currently, they wish to force a three night minimum rental period onto the free market, further diminishing property rights for property owners in their city)
We strongly encourage readers to email city council with their opinions on these and other items. They can be reached at citycouncil@newportbeachca.gov
