Planning Commission OKs Hoag Hospital expansion

The Newport Beach Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday night to accept a plan by Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian to allow shifting up to 225,000 square feet of building space from its lower to upper campus, a move the hospital said would allow for construction of more operating rooms and care facilities.

The commission’s vote came after a meeting at Newport Beach City Hall, in which a number of residents in the neighboring Villa Balboa condominium complex said they wanted Hoag to reduce its noise and air pollution levels before the city approved its new project. In the end, the commission approved the proposal and also voted to encourage the City Council, which will hear the matter next, to find ways to reduce the steam and vapor that the hospital’s power plant emits.

Robert Hawkins, the chairman of the Planning Commission, said the members had voted only to give Hoag permission to shift the building space and that future construction plans would be up to the hospital.

“They can still build that square footage on the lower campus if they so choose,” he said.

— Michael Miller