Published November 7, 2026
NEWPORT BEACH | CITY HALL WATCH | NOVEMBER 7, 2026
If your voter guide went straight into the recycling with the pizza coupons, no judgment. Here’s Measure H in plain English.
Every eight years, the state gives each city some homework: make room on paper for a set number of new homes. Not build them. Just zone for them. Newport’s latest number was 4,845. The cycle before that? Five new homes. Citywide.
In 2024, the City Council passed a plan allowing 8,174 units, way over the requirement. The city says the extra cushion lets developers build market-rate units to help pay for the affordable ones.
Two local groups, Still Protecting Our Newport and the Newport Beach Stewardship Association, sued, arguing the council couldn’t skip the Greenlight law that requires a public vote on big zoning changes. They lost, appealed, and while that’s still pending, they wrote their own plan. That’s Measure H.
H would cut zoning about 65%, down to 2,900 units, all of them low- or moderate-income, spread across Dover/Westcliff, Newport Center, West Newport Mesa, the Airport Area and Coyote Canyon. Supporters said that means less traffic and fewer big buildings. The biggest bankroller was developer Ken Picerne and his Picerne Group, at $1 million through mid-October.
Opponents, including council members Noah Blom, Sara Weber and Michelle Barto, warned that tossing a state-approved plan invites the kind of lawsuits and fines Huntington Beach got hit with.
So how’d it go? In the latest posted count, No leads 21,828 to 10,622, about 67% to 33%. Orange County doesn’t certify until Dec. 3, but this isn’t a nail-biter.
Unless the last ballots are hiding a miracle, H stands for “Hard pass.”
Sources
- LAist voter guide: Measure H
- NBC Los Angeles: Orange County November 2026 election results
- Newport Beach Indy: November 2026 election results
- Voice of OC: Election night results, Measure H
- City of Newport Beach: Nov. 3, 2026 General Municipal Election
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