On September 13, 2022, the Newport Beach City Council adopted the 6th Cycle Housing Element for the 2021-2029 planning cycle in response to the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation of 4,845 new housing units for Newport Beach. On October 5, 2022, the City received a letter from HCD certifying the City's Housing Element as being in full compliance with State Housing Element Law.

On October 25, 2022, the City Council adopted the Circulation Element Update.

This document summarizes phase one of outreach conducted for the Newport Beach General Plan Update. Phase one, which ran from March 15 to June 12, 2024, focused on Background Analysis and Visioning. Phase one outreach was designed to be varied in depth, impact, and reach to allow community members to participate in the planning process in ways that suit their interest level and availability. Through pop-up events and digital engagement, 5,987 community members were engaged. In addition, 45,158 residents were reached with notifications and paid advertisements.

This Technical Diagnostic Memo outlines key pieces of legislation, as they relate to the General Plan Update for the City of Newport Beach (City). The regulations detailed in this report relate to the General Plan either directly or indirectly where they either inform the General Plan Update process, the policies of the updated General Plan, or are informational as it relates to the General Plan and its implementation. In addition to a summary of regulations applicable to environmental justice, an assessment of pertinent environmental justice concerns is included. This analysis also considers key bills are not signed into law but have been recently introduced to the Senate and Assembly.

The adopted Implementation Program is a set of actions that the City of Newport Beach (City) has identified to realize the goals and implement the policies outlined in nine of the ten adopted General Plan elements, whereas the implementation of the Housing Element is built into the Housing Element. This Implementation Program Analysis outlines key tools at the City’s disposal that have been utilized to carry out the actions of the Implementation Program to implement the adopted General Plan, regulations that apply to or are otherwise relevant to General Plan implementation, and opportunities for implementing and monitoring implementation progress for the updated General Plan.

The Vision Statement forms the foundation from which all decisions in the General Plan Update are made. It identifies priorities where resources should be focused in striving to achieve the Vision where the City continues to be a great place to live, work, visit, and play. It provides a process for developing a consensus around the desired future state of Newport Beach.

This report comprehensively assesses seven harbor- and bay-related topics that support the character of the coastal zone in Newport Beach: diversity of land uses, diversity of water uses, public access, natural resources, coastal hazards, recreational water quality, and coordination with partner agencies. It identifies how the City of Newport Beach (City) is already addressing these topics, and how the City could further address the topics through its General Plan Update to preserve and improve the quality of these resources.

The protection and preservation of historic landmarks, sites, and structures in the City of Newport Beach (City) is of great importance and is reflected in the Historical Resources Element of the General Plan. The updated Historical Resources Element will build upon the adopted Historical Resources Element's goal to prioritize the protection of Newport Beach’s valued landmarks, sites, and structures that are representative of the community and region and will reinforce current preservation efforts.

This Resilience Existing Conditions and Background Analysis is intended to help identify these issues, where they are or can be addressed in the General Plan or other plans, and possible solutions that have been successful in other cities facing similar issues.

The City of Newport Beach (City) is renowned for its diverse ecosystems, including Newport Bay, the Buck Gully Reserve, and Crystal Cove State Park. These areas serve as popular recreational destinations, making the conservation and development of the natural resources within each of these environments a priority for the City. The Natural Resources Element of the City’s General Plan is one of the City’s primary tools that addresses issues that threaten the protection, development, and utilization of the City’s biological, mineral, visual, and other natural resources through targeted policies and strategies.

The primary purpose of the City of Newport Beach’s (City) Recreation Element is to provide sufficient park and recreational facilities that are balanced with the residential and business population. This existing conditions and background analysis (report) provides an overview of recreation in Newport Beach, including adopted recreation policies and the regulatory framework, and inventories existing and planned recreational areas. Recreational areas assessed in this report include parks and recreation facilities, marine protected areas adjacent to parks, and beaches. This report considers current and future recreational demands based on population, demographic, and development trends.

Arts and cultural activities play an important role in the social fabric of Newport Beach. The dedication and involvement of the City and the community has resulted in a wide range of arts and cultural organizations, resources, attractions, and activities that create a sense of community pride and enrichment. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the current state of Newport Beach’s arts- and culture-related offerings and a detailed context on existing and planned City facilities, educational programming and activities, and events and festivals that shape Newport Beach into the unique, coastal community that it is today.

This Land Use existing conditions and background analysis provides an overview of land use in Newport Beach, including adopted land use policies, and State, regional, and local regulatory and programmatic requirements, such as the Airport Environs Land Use Plan for John Wayne Airport and the Newport Beach Local Coastal Plan. In addition, this report assesses existing land uses and development in Newport Beach, the General Plan’s land use designations, and how projected land use and development needs compare. The assessment compares existing development to the maximum development capacity permitted under the land use designations.

The Safety Element’s general purpose is to protect residents, businesses, structures, infrastructure, and city functions. It fulfills this by providing analysis of natural and human-made hazards and dictating high-level policy to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from hazards.

The City of Newport Beach’s adopted General Plan includes topics that relate to the adopted Safety Element in other adopted elements, most notably the adopted Land Use Element, Natural Resources Element, Harbor and Bay Element, and Housing Element. There are other overlapping planning documents that the City maintains related to the Safety Element. The local hazard mitigation plan (LHMP) is a document that addresses similar topics but, focuses on shorter-term projects and mitigation and fulfills Federal post-disaster funding incentives. There is also the emergency operations plan (EOP), which is a plan for operations in the event of an emergency. The urban water management plan (UWMP) is another important City document that overlaps with water availability for firefighting purposes. Each of these documents should be consistent with the Safety Element analysis and policy.