Council delays Dunes decision until fall

Alex Coolman

NEWPORT BEACH -- After hours of debate over the proposed Newport Dunes

resort Tuesday night, the City Council moved to postpone its vote on the

controversial project until September.

Mayor John Noyes said he suggested the delay because not all of the

council members would be present at any single meeting in July or August.

“I strongly believe that on a general plan amendment this large and a

project this large, we owe the citizens full deliberations with the full

council there,” Noyes said.

The council majority agreed with Noyes and voted 5-1 to delay the vote,

with Councilman Gary Adams dissenting. Councilman Tod Ridgeway was not in

attendance.

Tim Quinn, project manager for the proposed 470-room hotel and

31,000-square-foot convention center, said he was shocked by the delay.

“We believe that this is really unfair to Newport Dunes and, more

important, to the hundreds of community members who have participated in

the process by attending multiple hearings, speaking, writing letters,

and really wanted to see a decision,” Quinn said.

In response to the council’s move, Quinn said, the developer is

“considering a range of options. We’re going to take a look at

everything.”

In addition to assuring that the full council will be able to vote on the

project, the delay means any potential vote on the Dunes will come close

to the November general election, in which voters could approve the

Greenlight initiative.

That measure, which would require voter approval for “major” developments

in the city, could conceivably become an additional hurdle for the

project to overcome, should it be passed before the Dunes resort is

approved.

Whether the slow-growth measure becomes a serious obstacle to the project

or not, Greenlight spokesman Phil Arst says the initiative is making its

presence felt in city politics.

“We think Greenlight is having an effect already,” Arst said. “In the

past, the Dunes would have been rubber-stamped. Now the issues are being

fully investigated.”

Opinions were mixed on Noyes’ motion to postpone action on the Dunes

project.

Architect and chairman of the Newport Harbor Chamber of Commerce’s civic

affairs committee, Rush Hill, said he was extremely disappointed by the

move.

“Yes, there’s a logic to wanting a full team,” he said. “But there’s a

cost that’s generated -- both financial and psychological -- in dragging

something out, and I think that they did a tremendous disservice to the

(Dunes) and to the future potential of this project.”

Councilman Adams was similarly unenthusiastic.

“I think putting it off is just putting it off,” he argued. “I don’t

think it’s fair to the applicant or to the opponents.”

Noyes, however, characterized the move as a prudent necessity.

“First of all,” he said, “we’ve got to be fair to the citizens.”

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