Restaurant wants 1 more hour

An upscale Corona del Mar eatery’s hopes of expanding its hours and offering live music have divided neighbors who live around the restaurant.

Residents have lobbied the Newport Beach Planning Commission to deny the Port Restaurant & Bar’s application to change its hours from 5:30 p.m. to midnight to extend its closing time to 1 a.m. and open for lunch on weekends. The restaurant also wants to continue using a 40-space, off-site parking lot for its patrons.

City staff have recommended the Planning Commission deny the Port’s requests.

The Zagat-rated restaurant, which serves entrees like Maine diver scallops and braised short ribs, sits behind the old Port Theater at 440 Heliotrope Ave.

Ali Zadeh, who has owned the Port since 2006, said he simply wants to stay open an hour later so he doesn’t have to rush his guests out the door at midnight. He also envisions a two-piece jazz band or a deejay playing down-tempo music at the restaurant in the evenings.

“We want to get along with the neighbors and want to have a solution that doesn’t bother any single soul,” Zadeh said. “If a neighbor has a problem, my door is always open. I’m sure we can find a solution.”

Some of the Port’s neighbors have complained that the restaurant has no on-site parking and that the expanded hours will generate more noise and traffic in the neighborhood.

“I’m not a rabble-rouser kind of person, but all of my neighbors are against the Port expanding,” said Corona del Mar resident Steve Smith, who lives within walking distance from the Port.

Patrons leaving the restaurant late at night generate noise Smith can hear from his bedroom, he said.

“They have a right to be in business, but I just don’t need it right here,” Smith said. “They’re right adjacent to a residential area, and the noise makes an impact.”

The Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce and the Corona del Mar Business Improvement District, though, have publicly supported the Port.

Many of the Port’s patrons also have written letters to the city in support of the restaurant.

Corona del Mar resident Tracey McCarter, a Port regular, said she hopes the restaurant gets to expand its hours and open for lunch.

“I love the atmosphere, and the food is fabulous. The owner is an extremely generous and kind man, and I love to support him,” McCarter said.

“I know he’s gone to great lengths to minimize noise. He wants it to be a restaurant first and foremost, more than a bar.”

The restaurant also gives back to the community, she said.

When McCarter helped the Harbor View Elementary School Parent Teacher Assn. raise money for the school last year with other parents, the Port hosted an underwriting party and donated cocktails for one of the school’s fundraisers, she said.

The Newport Beach Planning Commission is slated to take up the matter again Sept. 17, after a hearing Aug. 20 was continued.