Newport Dunes study expected to be released next week

Elise Gee

NEWPORT BEACH -- Builders of a $100-million 500-room hotel and

resort at Newport Dunes expect an environmental study on the project to

be released next week but gave the media highlights of the document

Thursday.

Residents of the adjacent Bayside Village mobile home park have been

concerned about the 4,800 vehicle trips on Bayside Drive and East Coast

Highway the project is expected to generate. The two-lane road will serve

as the resort’s only entrance.

The environmental document is requiring two six-foot sound walls along

the length of Bayside Drive and a nine-foot sound wall between Newport

Dunes property and the mobile home park to mitigate noise caused by the

traffic.

The Dunes also plans to expand Bayside Drive from two to three lanes

and adding landscaping, sidewalks and bicycle lanes.

The Dunes plans to build a 400-room hotel with 100 two-room time-share

units, 55,000 square feet of meeting space, and three restaurants.

Officials estimate it will generate nearly $1.3 million in direct tax

revenues to the city each year.

The proposal differs significantly from the 275-room family style

motel the Dunes received approval to build 15 years ago. That approval

includes no requirements for mitigation.

Residents said they are encouraged by the mitigation measures being

considered as part of the new proposal.

“I think the hotel is going in no matter what and if it’s going in we

want the best thing for all the residents,” said George Sanders, a

Bayside Village resident. “The wall, the bike lanes ... sound very good.”

Residents in Bayside have had almost exclusive use of Bayside Drive

except for Dunes visitors driving to the marina. There are about 3,900

average daily trips on Bayside Drive, according to the environmental

report, said Dunes’ spokeswoman Kristin Brocoff.

Bayside Drive now has a capacity of 7,000 to 10,000 vehicle trips a

day, said Rich Edmonston, city traffic engineer.

“The sort of good news of it is the perceived impact of traffic is far

worse than the traffic analysis shows,” said Robert Gleason, chief

financial officer of Evans Hotels, the family owned company that operates

Newport Dunes.

Gleason also emphasized that the 4,800 trips anticipated is only 800

more than the original motel was expected to generate. He also said that

most of those trips would occur outside of peak traffic times because of

the nature of the resort.

Besides traffic and noise, the other main environmental concerns are

views, water quality and light.

Gleason said the report identifies significant view impacts, but those

affect the resort itself rather than surrounding residences. At its

highest point, the resort will be five stories tall.

David Taylor, who lives in Dover Shores overlooking the future resort,

said he isn’t as concerned about the view as he is the lights coming from

the resort at night.

Taylor said he fears that the resort will create the same glare

problem as the Fletcher Jones Mercedes dealership does in Upper Newport

Bay.

“I’m confident the Dover Shores residents will be surprised as to the

intensity of the light glare,” Taylor said.

Brocoff said the environmental document did not identify any lighting

or glare issues that couldn’t be addressed. Moreover, the Dunes has

submitted as part of the report a planned community document including

design features that will reduce any spill, glare or reflections of light

from the resort.

Gleason also addressed water quality Thursday, saying the Dunes plans

to spend about $250,000 on water quality improvements, including a new

drainage and filtering system that will reduce runoff into the bay.

Following the city’s release of the environmental report, expected

next week, there will be a 45-day public comment period. Project

proponents hope to begin the public hearing process by the end of this

year and are setting 2003 as a target opening date.