NEWPORT BEACH : Marina’s Opponents to Speak Up

Residents and environmental groups opposed to plans for a new, private marina on Newport Bay that would sit partially on public-owned tidelands say they will make an effort at the City Council meeting today to halt or reduce the size of the project.

Friends of Newport Bay and Stop Polluting Our Newport both sent out mailers to members last week, urging residents to show their opposition to the Irvine Co. project either through letters or by attending tonight’s public hearing.

Residents’ views range from those who fully oppose the project, wanting the land to be bought and preserved as open space, to others who would be satisfied with a smaller marina that was contained on the company’s property and did not jut into the public waters.

Though the City Council is just one of seven agencies that will need to approve the project before construction could begin, those concerned want the project altered before hearings start elsewhere, including at the county and the California Coastal Commission.

In November, the Planning Commission approved a 121-slip marina, slightly scaled down from the original 125-slip proposal. Though commissioners debated a smaller, 84-slip marina, they decided that the other agencies reviewing the project would probably trim it down. Opposing commissioners and some residents blasted that vote, saying the commissioners did not show leadership.

The project’s promoters, an arm of the Irvine Co. known as California Recreation Co., have said that a smaller marina would not be profitable and that if the large marina cannot be built they will probably have to find an alternative use of the land.

Further, the landowners point out that a small marina existed on the property until about a decade ago, and a marina would be an appropriate use of the lot, at Dover Drive and Coast Highway.

Even though Newport Harbor is one of the biggest small-craft harbors in the country, the developers point to a lack of big boat slips available there and the rising demand for places to moor larger yachts. The marina would cater to those boats, with all spaces able to accommodate boats bigger than 35 feet.

Officials at the Newport Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce have also supported development there, saying the increased availability of big slips would be a welcome addition to the harbor.

The land is zoned for commercial marine use, and could be used for a marina or up to 40,000 square feet of commercial space, such as shops or restaurants.

Some Newport residents, however, have opposed the project because a portion of the marina would be built on public tidelands, which they say is an improper use of public property. The residents are also concerned that construction and operation would harm the ecologically sensitive stretch of waterfront, which is near the state ecological reserve in Upper Newport Bay.

“While the location of the proposed marina is not in the ecological reserve, it is an area in which this kind of development may impact the reserve substantially,” states a recent newsletter from Friends of Newport Bay, the group that fought successfully to make Upper Newport Bay a state reserve in 1975. “It is an area that is rich in wildlife and is valuable for fisheries.”

According to the city’s environmental review of the project, dredging the land to build the project would ruin halibut nurseries there, and construction would destroy some surrounding mud flats and cattail swamps that provide rich food sources for birds that live in the upper bay.

Further, the residents claim that mitigation measures, which include replacing lost mud flats and swamps in the reserve near Shellmaker Island, are not a guaranteed success.

Council members have not aired their opinions, though some members have agreed that a marina is an appropriate use of the land.