NEWPORT BEACH : Group Seeking Park Take Case to Council

Residents who hope to convert what has been called the Freeway Reservation property at the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Ford Drive into a public park brought their concerns to City Council this week.

Representatives of the Committee for the Preservation of the Newport Hills Greenbelt told the council Tuesday that their group was being treated unfairly because the property, which is currently planned to be the site of a housing development, wasn’t included among those the city may buy to keep as open space.

“I feel the City Council has dealt us a difficult blow to accept,” Anita Meister-Boyd, a homeowner near the parcel, told the council. “I think there are some very valid reasons this piece of land should be considered. . . . Where else in Newport Beach can you find land that looks like frontier land, like it did when the explorers first came here?”

The property is owned by the Irvine Co., which has tentative plans to build a 15-home tract on the parcel. However, company officials have said they would be willing to sell the property at its fair-market value if the community expresses interest in preserving it as open space.

City officials told committee representatives that they should petition their neighbors to see if there is enough support to form an assessment district under which the residents would agree to buy the property. The residents could then lease the land to the city, which would maintain the property as a community park.

However, the city currently is considering a proposal to buy two parcels of Irvine Co. land, the Castaways and Newporter North, to retain as undeveloped parkland if residents agree to take out bonds for the property. The hills residents wanted the freeway property treated similarly.

Meister-Boyd argued that while many residents are likely to support making the property an undeveloped park, few would probably be able to afford to pay for it. She said the city should buy the land.

During the council session, a few members of the group and of a nearby homeowners association spoke of the benefits the open land has provided over the years, describing seniors who enjoy quiet walks, the scenic view and children who explore the area and learn about the environment.

Mayor Phil Sansone told the group that there will be numerous hearings and meetings involving both the Irvine Co. and the city, during which options for the property could be discussed. But, he noted, “that’s private property, and technically speaking, you’ve been trespassing on it all these years.”