Breaking News:

The city of Newport Beach and state officials finally have settled on $5 million as the sale price for a 15-acre parcel of land owned by Caltrans where Newport wants to build a park.

The unused land near the corner of Superior Avenue and Coast Highway will probably become an active park with ball fields, Newport Beach City Councilman Steve Rosansky said today. The park has not been designed but could cost at least $5 million to develop.

The city has been in talks with the state since at least 2001 to take control of the land. Under an earlier plan, Newport would have paid $1.35 million to the state and then leased the land for a nominal fee, but Rosansky said the city and state couldn’t agree on a lease price.

The City Council on Tuesday will vote on whether to pay $5 million to own the property, which is probably somewhat below market value if the land were zoned for housing. The council voted to zone it for open space/recreation in February. The California Transportation Commission also must approve the deal and will discuss it at an early September meeting.