Another reason for deaths on Irvine Avenue...

Another reason for deaths on Irvine Avenue

After reading the letters on the accidents on the “S curve” on

Irvine Avenue, I would like to add my two cents’ worth.

Most of the letter stressed the fact that it was mostly a people

problem with speed and the lack of wearing seat belts adding to the

fatal injury column in the crashes. One problem was not mentioned

that can be added to the people problem and not attributed to the

street.

Being a member of the Newport Beach Fire Department for many years

and going on many of these accidents, one other problem is quite

evident to the members of the department, especially the ones

stationed at Station No. 6 on Irvine Avenue.

Firefighters who used to work Friday and Saturday shifts would

grouse about their possible late-night rendezvous at the “S curve” on

Irvine Avenue, usually not too long after the bars closed.

You can add alcohol to one of the contributing factors in some of

these accidents.

MILT MEEHAN

Newport Beach

Don’t blame Irvine Avenue for fault of drivers

I have lived on the Eastside of Costa Mesa or Newport for 25 years

and in Costa Mesa for more than 30 years, and the “S curve” on Irvine

Avenue has been an ongoing issue.

There is nothing wrong with Irvine Avenue; the problem is with the

drivers. The issue only comes up when someone is seriously injured or

killed, which should tell us something. There is a posted speed limit

on the road, and if you observe the speed limit, I cannot see any way

in which you can even have an accident, let alone kill yourself.

The speed limit is 35 mph, and virtually no one goes that speed --

I have had people pass me at 60 mph like they are at a speedway. I

have a sports car and can well manage the road at more than 35 mph,

but I follow the speed limit. In the cases of the car full of kids

that crashed, or this woman recently who went off the road, I think

both were driver error.

Let’s not blame the road itself. People need to take

responsibility for their actions. If they want to speed, show off or

drive without due care and attention, should the road be responsible

for that? I don’t think so. Thousands and thousands of people drive

that road each day and year.

If the road is not dangerous, it is the drivers that are dangerous

-- to themselves and to others.

If you choose not to observe the speed limits, that is something

you are responsible for.

VICKI HINES

Newport Beach

What’s going on at Lower Bayview Landing?

An open letter to the Newport Beach City Council:

So, you’re in a big hurry to push through a development of low-

and moderate-cost senior housing, comprising 150 three-story rental

units, at Lower Bayview Landing (on the bluffs and flat to the south

of the intersection of Jamboree and Back Bay Drive)?

Where were the public information sessions and discussions on this

proposed development? To whom among Newport Beach residents was the

city’s inadequate environmental study revealed before submission to

the Coastal Commission? Why do you give in to the public wish to vote

on the conversion of a trailer park to a hotel at Marinapark, but

evidently consider that a resident census to convert open space at

Lower Bayview Landing is not of equal importance?

Residents of Newport Beach are being trampled and deceived by the

city to get legislation through and concrete poured for strictly

economic reasons.

Lower Bayview Landing is an integral part of our Upper Newport Bay

estuarine system. It includes estuarine bluffs, a former wetland and

stream embayment, features that elsewhere are included in the Upper

Bay Ecological Reserve.

The plan by staff will grade the bluffs and part of the terrace

above them to insert the rental units and connect a bike path with

the one at the Dunes. Such grading will destroy much of the natural

estuarine habitat. Lower Bayview Landing is one of the last pieces of

open ground with Newport Beach. It should be preserved and added to

the Upper Bay Ecologic Reserve, where it belongs.

Moreover, the renters can be expected to drive everywhere. The

increased traffic will affect the already snarled Jamboree Road and

Coast Highway and Jamboree and San Joaquin Hills intersections.

If the city has to have affordable housing, it should present

Newport Beach residents with a set of alternative sites and their

pros and cons and collect the vote. City planning of the Lower

Bayview Landing development has been covert, opaque and dictatorial.

We ask for some transparency and the chance for residents to weigh

in on alternatives. Converting environmentally sensitive land that

should be protected into concrete and adding density to existing high

density area needs public approval.

ROBERT SPEED

Newport Beach

An embarrassing moment at City Hall

I attended the Costa Mesa City Council meeting on Monday night. I

am embarrassed for the city by the conduct of some members of the

council.

Mike Scheafer and Eric Bever were both very professional and

dignified in their public appearances; perhaps the council members

should review the tapes to see how they appear in public.

From the audience, I noticed that at the beginning of Bever’s

presentation the timer was beeping, indicating that the time was up

for Scheafer. If I noticed that from 10 rows back, I would assume

that the council members also heard the noise.

Apparently, Mayor Pro Tem Chris Steel neglected to set the timer

when Bever began his presentation. Councilwoman Libby Cowan, in the

middle of Bever’s presentation, began to chastise Steel for not

setting the timer, not once, but three times. She was sitting next to

Steel and could have reminded him politely that the timer needed to

be set and not wait for an opportunity several minutes later to

interrupt the speaker and ridicule the mayor pro tem.

Do they realize how they appear in public? Maybe a course with Ms.

Manners would help? Or is a public apology in order?

JUDITH BERRY

Costa Mesa