Property owners divided over Mariner’s walkway

Alicia Robinson

Business owners are divided over a proposal to build a waterfront

walkway from the Arches Bridge to the Balboa Bay Club.

The Newport Beach Harbor Commission is exploring building the

wooden walkwayas a tourist attraction and as a boost for waterfront

businesses.

A consultant studying the project has nearly finished collecting

feedback from 23 property owners -- mostly businesses -- who would be

affected by construction of a waterfront walk, and so far, responses

are mixed, Newport Beach City Engineer Lloyd Dalton said.

Nancy Dixon, owner of Larson’s Shipyard, is a critic of the

walkway plan.

“I just thought it was a bad idea,” she said. “I thought it could

be a safety issue.”

The city would have to install a drawbridge at her shipyard to

allow boats in and out, Dixon said. Boats in need of repair can

arrive at all hours, depending on the tides, and the repair work can

create chemical fumes and flying debris, she said.

Theft from boats and littering are issues in the harbor, a problem

that could be exacerbated by bringing more people to the area, Dixon

said.

“That’s already an issue out here,” she said. “I think we’re just

inviting more people to come and pollute.”

Duffy Electric Boats Vice President Gary Crane had no such

reservations about the walkway proposal, which he said would be good

for his business.

“From a retail standpoint, we would like to see something like

that,” Crane said.

As to problems with theft, Crane said, “a boardwalk is not going

to decrease or increase that. That’s always going to be an element

that would happen.”

The local chamber of commerce and conference and visitors bureau

were unequivocally positive about the proposed walkway.

“I think it would be terrific,” Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce

President Richard Luehrs said. “I think it would, in fact, benefit

the business community down there, particularly the restaurants.”

Business suffered after Sept. 11, Luehrs said, but has steadily

improved since then, and a waterfront walk could help the recovery.

It would make a great selling point, said Marta Hayden, executive

director of the Newport Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau.

“I think it would be an enhancement,” she said, citing the San

Antonio River Walk’s success in revitalizing business.

It would give visitors more access to “one of our major

attractions,” she said.

A harbor walkway has been talked about for years, but wasn’t done

before, Dalton said, because of other priorities for city spending.

Those priorities included improvements to the Arches interchange,

Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Village, Corona del Mar and Balboa

Island, he said.

“The city has been diligently pursuing improvements to these

areas, and it’s now time to improve the Mariner’s Mile area with

something significant,” Dalton said.

Improvements might also include a pedestrian bridge over Coast

Highway to get to the waterfront walk or a parking structure for the

area, said councilman Don Webb, whose district includes Mariner’s

Mile.

A walkway might help fill some of the vacant businesses along the

waterfront, he said.

A waterfront walkway could take three to five years to build, Webb

said.

A preliminary report including cost estimates for the waterfront

walkway is expected in December.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She can be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

[email protected].