Groups offer park plans

Rent a cottage at Marinapark!

That’s the essence of the newest plan for the city-owned,

waterfront property in Newport Beach that’s been the subject of

public debate for years.

The cottage plan, which would turn about 40 of the 56 mobile homes

on the site into rental units, was presented Tuesday to an ad hoc

committee vetting ideas for the City Council. The meeting may be the

committee’s last -- members voted to pass four plans for the 9.8-acre

Marinapark property on to the City Council without a recommendation.

Those plans encompass two main concepts: a marina, at least for

small hand-launched boats and possibly also for large yachts; and a

public park that adds an aquatic center and tot lot and retains

existing Girl Scout facilities, tennis courts, and other facilities.

Groups that presented plans are the city’s harbor commission, the

marine committee of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce and Protect

Our Parks, a residents’ group that led the fight in 2004 against a

hotel proposed for the property.

Mike Palitz, an investment banker and the owner of La Cave

restaurant in Costa Mesa, came up with the cottage plan. Instead of

removing the mobile homes, as the city intends to do, Palitz would

refurbish some of the homes as rental cottages, put in a public

swimming pool and a small marina, and fix up existing facilities,

such as the Girl Scout house and the community center.

“People would be able to boat in and make use of the cottages,” he

said.

He projected the plan could eventually earn $13 million a year.

But the cottage idea might not fly -- not only would it require a

general plan amendment, but as a privately run operation, it might

not sit well with voters who in November rejected using public land

for a private, profit-making hotel.

The other plans were expected to at least be self-supporting, if

not ultimately creating revenue for the city from boat slips and

recreational activities. But they also would require upfront

investment from the city to build.

How to pay for development at Marinapark is the main problem the

City Council will wrestle with.

“It’s not so much is it going to make money over time, is it going

to be profitable,” said committee member Debra Allen. “I think what

they are looking at is do we have the money to build it in the first

place.”

Another debate the council will have to resolve is whether a

marina at the site should serve large yachts or small boats.

But council members aren’t likely to take up the issue soon --

they’re now preoccupied with deciding whether to spend nearly $50

million on a new civic center, and it will take more than a year to

close the mobile-home park and move residents out.

FOR THE RECORD

A story on Page 3 of Thursday’s Daily Pilot, “Groups offer park

plans,” incorrectly described a Marinapark project proposal. The

story should have said the plan could bring in $13 million over a

10-year period, and that a general-plan amendment might be needed.

The city has not yet determined whether the proposal would require a

general-plan amendment.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or at [email protected].