Banning road in works

Local environmentalists are concerned about plans to build a road through Banning Ranch that are included in designs for Sunset Ridge Park in West Newport.

“I don’t think the road is necessary for this park,” said Terry Welsh, who heads up the Banning Ranch Conservancy, a nonprofit that wants to preserve Banning Ranch.

“The main reason we are opposed to this road is that saving Banning Ranch as open space doesn’t include plans for a big road with a stoplight.”

Sunset Ridge, a 13.67-acre sports park, is planned for the north corner of West Coast Highway and Superior Avenue, right next door to Banning Ranch.

A 28-foot-wide, two-lane access road runs north-south in plans for the park, cutting across Banning Ranch. The road would intersect with West Coast Highway about 980 feet west of Superior Avenue. Plans for the park show that the road would stretch north from West Coast Highway for about 850 feet, where it would end at the park parking lot.

The city would have to get an easement to construct the road from Newport Banning Ranch LLC, a consortium of three land owners that owns Banning Ranch.

A 400-acre piece of land that butts against West Coast Highway, Banning Ranch has been touted by environmentalists as one of the last large tracts of undeveloped coastal open space in the state.

Newport Banning Ranch LLC wants to build 1,375 homes, shops and a hotel on Banning Ranch.

Under the development plan, about 70% of the land would be preserved as open space.

The terms of the easement are still being hammered out with the land owners, city officials said Friday.

City plans also include putting in a three-way traffic signal on West Coast Highway at the terminus of the new access road. Construction on Sunset Ridge Park is slated for completion in spring 2011.

Newport Beach Councilman Steve Rosansky, whose district includes Sunset Ridge Park, said the road is needed to give drivers access to West Coast Highway from the park. Rosansky also has been involved with developing plans for the new park.

The new roadway is needed to help with traffic flow in the area, Rosansky said. The road has already been included in city plans for years, he said.

“Even if we did preserve Banning Ranch as open space, you still need a road to get in there,” Rosansky said. “As far as I’m concerned, the road needs to be there.”

City officials recently released a draft environmental impact report on Sunset Ridge Park. Residents have until Dec. 11 to give city planners input on the plans for the new park.

Facts About Sunset Ridge Park

 The 13.67-acre active sports park is planned for the north corner of West Coast Highway and Superior Avenue.

 The plans for the park include a pony-league baseball field, soccer fields, a butterfly garden and a scenic overlook area.

  City officials recently released a draft environmental impact report on Sunset Ridge Park. Residents have until Dec. 11 to give city planners input on the plans for the new park.

 Comments on the park plans should be sent to Janet Johnson Brown, Associate Planner, Newport Beach Planning Department, 3300 Newport Boulevard, Newport Beach, CA 92658-8915.