Planning Commission delays vote on Dunes

Andrew Glazer

NEWPORT BEACH -- The Planning Commission delayed making a decision on a

proposed large-scale resort hotel complex until April 20, even after

spending nearly four hours Thursday night parsing environmental

documents.

The meeting lasted until midnight, which was hardly surprising because

the Newport Dunes project has lingered in Planning Commission discussions

since developers first presented their plans in 1998.

“I’m going to work it out when I’m a little fresher,” said Commissioner

Michael C. Kranzley, leaning back in his chair. “But I think we’re

awfully close.”

In an unofficial “straw vote,” the commission approved the developer’s

request to expand its conference space from 25,000 to 31,000 square feet.

It also supported the developer’s request to replace 18 rooms, which were

eliminated from the plan when Newport Dunes planners agreed to lop off

one story of a building.

Some residents and environmentalists have opposed hotel complex, saying

its size -- more than 400 rooms -- would draw noise and traffic to the

quiet residential area.

Critics of the development are most concerned about the hotel’s

conference facility. They say people entering and leaving conferences

there would clog nearby streets with traffic.

But traffic increases would be negligible, according to traffic studies

prepared for the city by independent consultants.

Some residents aren’t convinced the traffic data is accurate.

Others, including Ayres Boyd -- a spokesperson of a newly -formed

coalition comprising representatives from 11 homeowners’ associations --

said they’ve been left out of the planning process.

“This whole project hasn’t saturated the community until rather

recently,” Boyd said. “When it gets closer to the deadline, you have to

act.”

The group, known as the Special Committee of Associations, believes the

project is too large for the area. Its members have met regularly for

five weeks to discuss the project and will deliver its formal suggestions

to the commission early next week.

“We feel like the commission has left homeowners out of the process,” he

said Thursday.

The Planning Commission on April 20 is scheduled to hold its seventh

public hearing about the Newport Dunes project.