TODAY:

After five Planning Commission meetings and two Newport Beach City Council hearings, plans for the Aerie, a clutch of luxury condos on a coastal bluff in Corona del Mar that have divided neighbors, are headed back to the council for a third time tonight.

A few residents have formed a group called Residents for Responsible Development to oppose the development. The group’s website, www.rfrd.info, includes a petition to stop the project.

Some residents believe the project, slated to take the place of a run-down apartment building and house, will benefit the neighborhood.

Others say the project will compromise the bluff, which is visible from Newport Harbor.

Land developer Richard Julian bought the site of a 60-year-old apartment building and house on Carnation Avenue seven years ago with hopes of transforming it into a luxury condominium complex.

The project has since run into a maze of governmental hearings, environmental documentation and feuds with some of the neighbors who oppose the development.

The luxury condominiums would have private decks and pools for each unit and an elevator to take cars to underground levels. The developer originally planned a seven-story building on the spot, but has modified the plans to make the building six levels.

Julian contends the project would actually improve the ocean views of his neighbors, and be built higher up on the coastal bluff than the existing apartment building, leaving more of the landmass visible from the water.