Briefly in the news

-- Paul Clinton

Talk about squeezing it in under the wire.

The state Assembly on Friday granted an 11th-hour approval to a bill

to pave the way for a park on a vacant strip of land at the corner of

Superior Avenue and West Coast Highway.

State Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) introduced the legislation Jan. 25.

The city has been trying to buy the land from Caltrans for almost a

decade to develop a park on the weed-infested land.

The bill would transfer the land to California State Parks for use as

a park. In exchange for the transfer, Newport Beach would pay “at least

equal to the acquisition cost paid by the state,” the bill states.

Caltrans has resisted the sale of the land, which the city has

appraised at $4.1 million but offered $1.3 million.

The land has sat vacant since Caltrans bought it in 1966 and was

unable to build a freeway on the property. The land is known as “Sunset

Ridge Park” because of its view.

Now that it has passed the Legislature, the bill will become law

unless it is vetoed by Gov. Gray Davis by mid-October.