Pressure mounts to remove fence blocking public land in Upper Newport Bay
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Sept. 14. I’m Carol Cormaci, bringing you today’s TimesOC newsletter with the latest roundup of news and events.
Seizing on the news that Republican donor Buck Johns was planning to hold a political event at his Newport Beach home last Thursday night, about 40 activists decided that was the perfect time to stage a protest over a chain-link fence that separates public land from Johns’ large property overlooking Upper Newport Bay.
Roughly a third of an acre behind that fence does not belong to Johns, although he attempted to purchase it from the county in 2019 for $13,000, with a little help shepherding the transaction through from Rep. Michelle Steel. It is actually public parkland, and the inability for said public to access it has been a center of controversy over the past few years.
My colleagues Lilly Nguyen with the Daily Pilot and Noah Goldberg with the L.A. Times both reported on Thursday night’s protest for their respective publications.
Standing at the corner of Mesa and Upper Bay drives, protesters carried signs that read “Give back our public park” and “Take down the fence,” according to Nguyen’s account.
Some background to the protest: The land remains owned by the county, but that’s because when the proposed sale came to the Board of Supervisors in 2021 for its approval, Steel, a Republican, no longer sat on the board, as she had been elected to Congress.
It’s worth noting here that during the period he was wrangling to take possession of that third-acre parcel, Johns, an energy magnate, donated $2,800 to Steel’s successful 2020 congressional campaign, Goldberg reports in his coverage of last week’s demonstration. “We genuinely appreciate the fine cooperation from Supervisor Steel’s staff,” Johns wrote in an email, according to Goldberg.
“[Steel] was replaced on the board by Katrina Foley, a Democrat much less friendly to the plan,” Goldberg writes.
“It’s crystal clear that it’s the county’s land. It’s never been [Johns’],” Foley told The Times in an interview. “He thinks if he just puts up a fence, it suddenly makes it his land, but that’s not how the public lands act works.”
So the sale by the county to Johns was stopped. But the county didn’t remove the fence after Johns’ attorney sent a letter threatening legal action. In keeping the fence in place, county officials “inappropriately ceded [the parcel] to private use,” according to an Orange County grand jury report issued in June.
The state Coastal Commission in August sent a letter to county officials saying the fence is in violation of the Coastal Act. In the letter, District Enforcement Officer Nicholas Tealer noted recommendations from the grand jury report and said the state agency supported removal of the fence and any other encroachments.
Dan Jamieson organized Thursday’s protest in coordination with Susan Skinner, the latter of whom told the Daily Pilot it was the first in a number of protests planned if the county doesn’t remove the fence.
“This is a situation where you have the public locked out of their property, and they know it and they know it’s illegal to do so,” Skinner said. “The Coastal Commission has said take it down ... the grand jury has said take it down, and they are not willing to do so.”
County officials planned a closed session to discuss the matter, according to a letter The Times received from county counsel. The long saga of the fence may — or may not — end soon.
MORE NEWS
— The promoter of the popular Pacific Air Show, Huntington Beach resident Kevin Elliott, learned this week the Huntington Beach City Council will no longer provide subsidies for the event. The promoter is wondering if this year’s air show, set for Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, will be his last, according to this story by my colleague Matt Szabo. To date, the city has waived a total of $86,425 in permit-related fees and provided $296,094 in parking offset revenues, according to an official’s report. But Elliott’s organization, Code Four, will now be on the hook for an estimated $256,963 owed to the city for this year’s show, including staffing costs, various permit fees and reserved parking space and campground sites.
— A four-alarm fire Sunday morning gutted one apartment and damaged three others in Irvine Co.’s Promontory Point complex in Newport Beach. Its cause and point of origin have not been officially released, but residents say they were told it was an electrical fire and claim no audible fire alarms were tripped. One woman, who lived just a few doors from the gutted apartment, told a Daily Pilot contributing writer she only learned her building was on fire after a motorist passing by honked the horn and shouted to people to get out. Two firefighters suffered heat-related injuries and were treated at a hospital, then released. Residents are demanding answers.
— Researchers exploring the possibility of using existing infrastructure to deliver cleaner alternatives for fossil fuels to people in a real-world setting submitted a proposal Thursday to do that on the campus of UC Irvine. The planned experiment was submitted for approval by the California Public Utilities Commission by the Southern California Gas Co. in collaboration with the university. They plan to use a device called an electrolyzer to convert water into hydrogen. That will then be mixed into the fuel being piped through existing lines in parts of the campus.
— In news also related to Irvine and clean air, my colleague Gabriel San Román reports on how Irvine earlier this year became the largest city in O.C. to choose to receive its energy from 100% renewable sources. “But there has been little movement on the other goals in last year’s resolution — including developing a detailed plan,” San Román writes in his latest article. “Local climate activists say a year of inaction has put the 2030 goal in jeopardy.”
— A Costa Mesa man, Randon William Cintron, 43, died after being struck by a vehicle in Newport Beach Sunday morning on Jamboree Road at Bayview Way. The driver suspected of hitting Cintron, 36-year-old Anaheim resident Adriana Bernal, was later arrested on suspicion of homicide and hit-and-run.
— Reported hate crimes and incidents in Orange County rose for the seventh year in a row but at a slower pace than in the recent past, officials with the O.C. Human Relations Commission said last week. The commission is poised to release its complete report on Thursday.
— The Orange County Health Care Agency has begun distributing doses of the bivalent vaccine this week to target the dominant Omicron strains — BA.4 and BA.5 — in addition to the original coronavirus strain that began the pandemic in early 2020. The agency encourages eligible residents and visitors to visit vaccines.gov to find a nearby clinic.
LIFE & LEISURE
— Orange County residents and civic leaders joined first responders Sunday in a series of local tributes held to mark 21 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and as a symbol of solidarity and remembrance.
— “Perceive Me,” a new performance exhibit at the art gallery at Newport Beach’s Coastline College poses questions about identity and value and explores how our thoughts about ourselves are often colored by how we believe others see us. Los Angeles artist Kristine Schomaker — a plus-sized woman who’d spent decades evaluating her self-worth based on how she believed she was perceived by others — set out to find answers by doing what some might consider unthinkable: She posed nude for 60 artists. The show is a result of that experiment.
— City officials and religious leaders gathered for the 14th annual Blessing of the Waves at the Huntington Beach Pier on Sunday. The event, which seeks to recognize the spiritual qualities of water, is organized each year by the Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council. Rabbi Stephen J. Einstein of Congregation B’nai Tzedek performed the invocation before other leaders from across the city offered their prayers.
SPORTS
— Southland billionaire (and owner of the Los Angeles Times and the Daily Pilot) Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, was reported Saturday to be looking into whether or not to make a bid to buy the Angels. The good doctor has kept mum about it to the newsroom, according to this story by Times reporter Bill Shaikin, who writes the Angels are expected to go for at least $2.5 billion. Soon-Shiong’s fortune, Forbes estimates, is $6.9 billion.
— Coming off winning the inaugural CIF Southern Section Open Division title last year, the Newport Harbor High School boys’ water polo team on Saturday edged Studio City Harvard-Westlake 12-11 at home in an early-season nonleague battle of unbeaten teams.
— The Fountain Valley High School Barons football team dashed past Marina High in rewriting the school record book on Friday. Eight ball carriers combined for 463 rushing yards, leading Fountain Valley to a 45-14 win over Marina in a nonleague football game at Huntington Beach High.
CALENDAR THIS
— Three-day and single-day tickets are on sale now for this year’s Ohana musical festival taking place Sept. 30 through Oct. 2 at Doheny State Park in Dana Point. Headliners Sept. 30 are Stevie Nicks, Khruangbin, Brittany Howard, Revivalists and Gang of Youth. On stage Oct. 1 are Eddie Vedder, Jack White, Billy Strings and Manchester Orchestra, among others. On Oct. 2 Pink headlines, with Dermot Kennedy and Broken Social Scene. A full list of participating bands and a link to purchase tickets can be found here.
KEEP IN TOUCH
If you have a memory or story about Orange County, I would love to read and share it in this space. Please try to keep your submission to 100 words or less and include your name and current city of residence.
I’d appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C., or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
