Expansion plans announced for Fashion Island

S.J. Cahn

FASHION ISLAND -- Officials at Newport Beach’s premier shopping center

on Monday announced plans for new restaurants as part of almost 70,000

square feet of expansion to be finished by next spring.

The construction, which will include 35,000 square feet of new

buildings and the 33,000-square-foot addition of a third floor to Neiman

Marcus, won’t demand a Greenlight vote because it was approved in a 1994

agreement made before the slow-growth law took effect.

Greenlight, which voters passed in November, requires citywide

elections on any general plan amendment for a project that adds more than

100 peak-hour car trips or dwelling units, or 40,000 square feet more

than the general plan allows.

A company spokeswoman also noted the construction does not conflict

with a pledge made in the weeks leading up to that election by Gary Hunt,

then the executive vice president of the Irvine Co.

In a letter to the Daily Pilot on Oct. 24, Hunt wrote: “we wish to

inform the residents of Newport Beach that the Irvine Co. will not seek

any future amendments to the general plan of Newport Beach. Further, we

will not build any more high-rise office buildings in Newport Beach.”

Hunt, who resigned his position in February, said the company was

announcing the moratorium on building “to ensure that all Newport Beach

voters consider Measure S [Greenlight] based on facts, not fear.”

While the announced construction does not defy the letter of that

statement, it does seem to defy the intent, Greenlight supporters said.

“While these additions will not violate the exact language of their

preview promises not to ‘seek any more amendments to the general plan of

Newport Beach,’ many of us had believed they would not rely upon exact

exclusionary language in order to later proceed with their developments,

and certainly we were not notified of the open entitlements when they

made the election promises,” said Phil Arst, a spokesman for Greenlight

supporters.

Irvine Co. spokeswoman Jennifer Smith countered that the construction

is part of long-standing plans for the center.

“It certainly does not fly in the face of what we’ve said,” Smith

said, noting there are no plans for a high-rise building and that there

is a constant demand for more restaurants.

Arst said he and his fellow Greenlight backers are concerned about the

possible added traffic caused by people coming to the new restaurants.

They also called on the City Council to ensure the project won’t cause

additional traffic.

On Monday, Fashion Island officials also announced that four new

retailers will open by the summer: Kenneth Cole, Parallel, Sara and

Aerosoles.

As an area, the shopping center is the city’s biggest contributor to

the city’s sale tax coffers, followed by Mariner’s Mile, said Assistant

City Manager Sharon Wood.

Arst said the Greenlight supporters recognize the importance of

“high-level tenants” at the center. However, they emphasized that it

should come without more development.