Newport Beach closer to gaining a park

June Casagrande

WEST NEWPORT -- City officials are turning up the heat on Gov. Gray

Davis to transform an overgrown lot into a long-awaited park.

City Council members have been rallying support for Senate Bill 124,

which would transfer 15 acres of land at Superior Avenue and West Coast

Highway from the California Department of Transportation into the hands

of California State Parks. This would allow the city to buy the land and

make it into a park.

Over the last week, city officials have been asking groups such as the

local Audubon Society, Sierra Club and Surfrider Foundation to register

their support by writing to the governor to urge him to sign the bill.

If the campaign is successful, the governor’s signature will be the

final stamp of approval required to turn the weed-filled lot called

Sunset Ridge Park from a deserted eyesore into a community asset with

soccer fields and other amenities.

“We want it to be clear that the legislation benefits more than just

Newport Beach; [it benefits] the whole region,” City Manager Homer Bludau

said.

The legislation was introduced Jan. 25 by state Sen. Ross Johnson. The

governor has until Sunday to make a decision.

Caltrans bought the land in 1966 for $1.3 million to build a freeway.

That plan faded after it became clear that the community didn’t want to

see a major roadway there. A 1973 initiative sealed the freeway’s fate

when Newport Beach residents shot down Caltrans’ plan. The land has been

vacant ever since, despite a decades-long push to turn it into a

community asset.

If the governor approves the bill, the city will buy back the land for

the same price Caltrans paid in 1966: $1.3 million. The land was

appraised in 1999 for $4.1 million.

City officials said their vision for the land includes playing fields,

open park space and some other recreational facilities. But, at the

request of some community members, no lighted playing fields are planned

for the site.

Environmentalists add that preserving the land from future development

also benefits the ocean.

“The more we build up, the more urban runoff we create, so supporting

this park is important to our mission,” said Nancy Gardner, secretary of

the Newport Beach chapter of Surfrider. Gardner said Surfrider sent a

letter to the governor, at the city’s request, urging him to sign the

legislation.

“We are hopeful that he will sign it,” Bludau said.

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 june.casagrande@latimes.comf7 .