Councilman-elect Peotter: Newport Civic Center ‘bunnies’ should go

If Newport Beach Councilman-elect Scott Peotter has his way, the concrete cottontails that invaded Civic Center park this year could soon be hopping out of town.

Peotter floated ideas Thursday for removing the statues during a Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

The city paid $221,000 for 14 rabbits measuring 4 feet tall, plus a pair of 8-foot bunnies, one of which sits on its haunches near the library while the other looks out from a post closer to the Civic Center.

The 14 cottontails form a circle in the park, staring inwardly at one another with their pink, pastel-painted eyes. Children often can be found climbing and playing on the statues, but City Hall critics call the display a metaphor for overspending on the new Civic Center.

“I haven’t met anyone yet that likes the bunnies,” Peotter said. “Removing them would be a symbol of moving in a different direction.”

Peotter said he would like to donate them to a museum or another party without using taxpayer money for their removal.

Local and state politicians Thursday also discussed plans for 405 Freeway toll lanes and Newport Beach fire rings, which caused controversy when the City Council voted to make the previously wood-burning fire pits charcoal only.

Peotter said that while he doesn’t want to get the city in trouble with the California Coastal Commission or the South Coast Air Quality Management District, he would like residents to again be able to burn wood.

The bonfires sparked debate in 2013 after Newport Beach tried to remove its wood-burning fire pits at Corona del Mar State Beach and near the Balboa Pier after residents complained of potential health problems associated with the wood smoke drifting into their homes.

The City Council instead opted to keep the rings but mandated that charcoal be used instead of wood.

The Coastal Commission claimed the topic would be under its purview because it deals with coastal access. However, the AQMD argued that it was an air-quality issue that it should manage.

Huntington Beach Mayor Matthew Harper, who attended the chamber breakfast as the area’s new assemblyman-elect, said the state Legislature should decide which agency has the final say over the fire pits.

If the two agencies battled each other in court, millions of dollars would be spent and it would take years for a decision to be reached, Harper said.

“Legislation is a lot less expensive [way] to say, ‘You have jurisdiction over this,’” he said. “I feel that a legislative solution is ultimately the best way to be able to carve out where the jurisdiction is.”

The California Department of Transportation’s fiercely debated proposal for toll lanes on the 405 also was a topic of discussion during the breakfast meeting.

Harper said Caltrans ultimately would need approval from the Legislature if it wants to convert general-purpose lanes on the 405 to a toll option.

Caltrans announced in July that it would replace the existing carpool lane in each direction with a toll lane along the 14-mile stretch between the 605 Freeway and Costa Mesa. However, the Orange County Transportation Authority said it would continue with plans to add a general-purpose lane in each direction, regardless of Caltrans’ plans.

“My concern is not necessarily about toll roads that are constructed with tolls … that specifically go to pay off the construction bond for those roads individually,” said Harper, an OCTA board member. “Here [with the 405 Freeway], the major objection that I have, and that the public has, is the conversion of freeway lanes into toll lanes.”

Harper said that allowing even one toll lane could eventually pave the way for tolls on the entire freeway system.

To combat the issue when he gets to the Legislature, Harper said he plans to call for support from districts in Los Angeles County.

“If we can get enough legislators to view that as a threat within their own districts, I think that’s really where the policy changes,” he said.