NEWPORT BEACH : City OKs 119 Houses Along Upper Bay

After the Irvine Co. withdrew plans to increase the number of homes at its Castaways project, the City Council this week approved the original development plan that calls for 119 homes and two parks at the south end of Upper Newport Bay.

The company backed down and reverted to the original design for the planned Upper and Lower Castaways projects a week after an emotional community meeting where residents railed against the substituted plan, which would have eliminated one park and added 15 or 16 houses to the project.

As approved, the plan includes a 4.8-acre active park at 16th Street and Dover Drive and a wilderness park area at a headland below. It also includes a bluff-top bicycle trail and a 70-slip private marina below the wilderness park. The development area lies between Dover and the western shore of the bay, just north of Coast Highway.

The active park will include two Little League baseball diamonds and an overlaid soccer field. The wilderness park will be left as close to its natural state as possible but will have a parking lot, public trails and view points.

The council had set the second proposal for a Feb. 27 public hearing, but Monday’s approval for the original plan obviated the need for that hearing. The plan was tacked onto Monday’s agenda and approved without discussion.

But debate about the plan is not over. The city planning staff has recommended that the Irvine Co. pay to widen Dover Drive between Westcliff Drive and Pacific Coast Highway.

However, Councilwoman Norma Glover asked the council to review that part of the plan and keep Dover at its present four-lane width.

“This is in a neighborhood,” she said. “The widening of that street will urbanize the neighborhood. A wider street encourages more people to use it.”