Published November 7, 2026
NEWPORT BEACH | AROUND NEWPORT | NOVEMBER 7, 2026
Ever wonder who keeps showing up at Newport Beach City Hall with a stack of documents and a strong opinion? A lot of the time, it’s SPON.
It started in 1974 as Stop Polluting Our Newport, a group of locals hauling trash out of Upper Newport Bay. These days the name is Still Protecting Our Newport. Same letters, much bigger to-do list.
The big one is John Wayne Airport. After a lawsuit against the county, SPON signed the 1985 airport settlement agreement with the city, Orange County and the Airport Working Group. SPON says that deal is what set the nighttime curfew and the caps on departures and passengers. It’s been amended and extended since, and the group says renegotiating it is now its most urgent job. SPON still reports in at the city’s Aviation Committee, because airport deals apparently never land for good.
SPON also sponsored the Greenlight Initiative, the city law that puts big development changes to a public vote. And it says it helped save the land now called the Randall Preserve, back when everybody still called it Banning Ranch.
Lately, it’s been knee-deep in the housing fight. SPON and another local group sued after the council decided its 2024 housing plan didn’t need a Greenlight vote. They lost in court, appealed, and then took their own plan to voters as Measure H. Voters weren’t buying it: No led about 67% to 33% in the latest count.
Love them or argue with them, SPON reads the agendas so a lot of us don’t have to. Fifty-two years in, they’re still carrying trash bags. Now they’re just full of staff reports.
Sources
- SPON: History and mission
- City of Newport Beach: JWA settlement agreement history
- Newport Beach Aviation Committee minutes (Oct. 20, 2025)
- LAist voter guide: Measure H
- NBC Los Angeles: Orange County November 2026 election results
Help us out, Newport.
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