From: City Clerk"s Office
To: Mulvey, Jennifer
Subject: FW: COMMENTS- RE. CITY COUNCIL ITEM 3 of COUNCIL SESSION 4-28-25 AGENDA Date: April 25, 2025 2:52:12 PM
From: Denys Oberman <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2025 2:51:57 PM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) To: Stapleton, Joe <[email protected]>; Lauren Kleiman, Newport Beach Mayor Pro Tem <[email protected]>; Grant, Robyn <[email protected]>; Weigand, Erik <[email protected]>; city <[email protected]>; Brown, Leilani <[email protected]>; City Clerk's Office <[email protected]> Cc: [email protected] <[email protected]>; Fred Levine <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; Maureen Cotton <[email protected]>; Carmen Rawson <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>
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AND ENTER INTO THE PUBLIC RECORD
Re. Item 3 on Consent Calendar-Introduction of Ordinange No 2025-6 amending Chapp 11.04 of the Newport Beach Municipal Code re. use of bikes, electric and motorized bikes and other such devices on the Beaches.
Mayor Stapleton and Members of the Council:
We understand that the City Council is introducing and will consider an Amendment to the City’s ordinances, referenced above, establishing prohibition of the devices on the City’s beaches.
We commend staff for their report summarizing the conditions and circumstances leading to this proposed Ordinance Amendment.
The ever-increasing use
of the devices at the beach areas poses a threat to the safet and healthful use of the boardwalk and beach areas by the public- at -large.
Hazardous operation of these devices has now extended to the beach and ingress/egress strands adjoining it ( including Newport Beach Elementary school playground).
The public at large is entitled to access, use and enjoy the beach area as a place for safe and healthful activity.
Received after Agenda Printed
April 29, 2025
Item No. 3
A request for clarification and confirmation: Are the definitions and terms of the amended Ordinance assumed to include, the ingress/egree strands on the beach leading out to the water?
What about the Newport Elementary School playground on the beach? We would suggest that these be included for clarity.
Residents and visitors extend our appreciation to the Council for progressing this necessary regulation, complimentary to the focus on Boardwalk safety enforcement action.
We encourage the Council to approve and direct enactment of the Ordinance amendment with the clarifications proposed above.
Thank you for your consideration.
Denys H Oberman
Resident Oceanfront and community stakeholder
Regards,
Denys H. Oberman, CEO
OBERMAN Strategy and Financial Advisors
19200 Von Karman Avenue, 6th Floor
Irvine, CA
92612
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From: Maureen Cotton <[email protected]>
Sent: April 28, 2025 3:23 PM
To: City Clerk's Office
Cc: Stapleton, Joe; Dept - City Council
Subject: Ordinance No. 2025-6 - CNBCA Supports this Action! Attachments: Banning E-Bike on Beach_Ord No 2025-6_ltr to Mayor and CC_04-28- 2025.pdf
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City Clerk,
Please see attached letter from Central Newport Beach Community Association. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Maureen Cotton
President
CNBCA
Cell: 714-981-4926
please check out our website
www.MyNewportBeach.org
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Central Newport Beach Community Association
PO Box 884 • Newport Beach, CA • 92661-0884
www.MyNewportBeach.Org
April 28, 2025
Dear Mayor Stapleton and Councilmembers, Kleiman, Barto, Blom, Grant, Weber, and Weigand:
Central Newport Beach Community Association (CNBCA) wants to applaud the Mayor, City Councilmembers, and City Staff for introducing Ordinance No. 2025-6, which effectively bans the operation of bicycles, electric bicycles, electrically motorized boards, motorized bicycles, motorized scooters, pedicabs, and surrey cycles from operation on beaches within the City of Newport Beach.
This ordinance—along with continued enforcement along the Boardwalk—are the first steps in improving Boardwalk safety. The City Council and the Parks, Beaches & Recreation (PB&R) Commission received 87 letters and emails written by homeowners/taxpayers and residents to the City Council and PB&R Commission with 85 of the 87 opposing a split trail. Most of these emails were sent from our members and several of them took even more of their personal time to speak at the PB&R Commission meeting on April 1, 2025.
Having heard the community’s opposition to the split trail and the need for greater enforcement, Mayor Stapleton enlisted the Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD) to commence more visible enforcement of the 8-mph speed limit along the Boardwalk that began on Saturday, April 5th. We really appreciate Mayor Stapleton “hearing” the community! We also want to thank the NBPD for issuing tickets with stiff fines for those speeding along the Boardwalk that weekend and the following weekend. Keep up the good work! We also want to thank NBPD who “…recently observed a significant increase in the number of e-bikers riding their bikes on the sand. This poses a significant risk to beachgoers for a variety of reasons. The speed capacity of the e-bikes as articulated above, in combination with the terrain of the beach (which includes sand berms with limited visibility), and large crowds during summer months, could lead to disastrous consequences for beachgoers who aren’t accustomed to looking out for vehicles while enjoying the sand.” This is one of the leading reasons that CNBCA opposes a split trail.
The Staff Report goes on to state, “In addition to the safety concerns, e-bikers have been riding on the sand dunes, which are considered an Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area (ESHA). Sand dunes provide nesting and shelter for several species of endangered birds and provide habitat for such rare species as the California legless lizard and several species of Blue Butterfly. It is imperative to keep e-bike riders off of these dunes in order to preserve this fragile habitat area and prevent unnecessary destruction.” CNBCA agrees wholeheartedly with this statement.
CNBCA sent a letter to the City Council on August 11, 2022, making the following suggestions:
Education. Making a visitor friendly required handout for property managers and owners with responsibility for short-term rentals to each set of tenants. The handout would include laws, regulations, and new ordinances (speed, helmets, etc.) as well as a list of potential hazards that the visitor may encounter such as toddlers through adults running across the Boardwalk without looking both ways. The handout could also remind visitors to respect the lanes on the Boardwalk as well as address ocean safety (e.g., what a rip current looks like and what to do if caught in one).
Enforcement. As has been frequently stated, “The City has most of the laws/ordinances on the books, the City just needs to enforce them.”
Regulation. During Speak Up Newport's June 8th meeting, Don Dicostanzo (Pedego Electric Bikes CEO) stated that AB1096 (was passed in 2015) gives cities (e.g., City of Newport Beach) the authority to regulate e-bikes. AB1096 allows the City to require helmets, set maximum speeds, and/or prohibit operation of e-bikes on specified paths (e.g., the Boardwalk). CNBCA presented this option (AB1096) in letters, at meetings with City staff, and at City Council meetings on behalf of CNBCA in 2017 and again in 2020.
Given the results of the July 10th (2020) weekend ticketing of hundreds of speeding e- bikes/cyclists on the Boardwalk and the flood of complaints by residents and Boardwalk visitors, CNBCA would like the City Council to:
• Direct the City Attorney to research/vet AB1096 and develop an ordinance that:
✓ Prohibits e-bikes on the Boardwalk
✓ Requires helmets on all e-Bike riders city-wide
✓ Establishes fines that start at $500 per violation (e.g., not wearing a helmet, speeding)
• Enact the new ordinance to promote rider safety and simplify enforcement by the Newport Beach Police Department.
We look forward to continuing discussion with tangible results both citywide and in District One.
Sincerely,
Maureen Cotton
President, CNBCA