Re-hearing Request Of Banning Ranch Deal Yanked From Agenda

NO HEARING ON THE RE-HEARING TONIGHT

Late this afternoon the request by councilwoman Wendy Leece to have a re-hearing on the controversial Traffic Mitigation agreement between the proposed developers of the Banning Ranch and the City has been removed from the agenda of the council meeting this evening.

 NBR REQUESTS WITHDRAWAL
It's my understanding that representatives from Newport Banning Ranch requested that it be withdrawn until they had a chance to review the council's modifications of the original agreement.

 POSSIBLE CONFLICT OF INTEREST REVIEW
It was also exacerbated by the complication of the request of the State Fair Political Practices Commission by Leece to review the case for any possible conflict of interest she might have in this matter.  That review will not be completed several weeks.  So, she also requested the item to be withdrawn.

IT'S OFFICIALLY OFF THE AGENDA

So, the issue is OFF the agenda and anyone wishing to address it will have to do so during the Public Comments section of the meeting.

A STEALTH MOVE?
It appears to me that this might have been an end-run around the system.  If NBR officials review what the council approved and sign it, then there is NO reason for it to come back to the council for any action.  It will be a done deal before Leece or anyone else can request a re-hearing downstream.  We'll see.