EDITORIAL

This week, Newport Beach leaders need to make a big decision: To buy

or not to buy the Dunes Waterfront Resort.

The mid-October deadline was imposed by the owners of the Dunes late

last month and was immediately rejected as a possibility by city leaders,

who said they could not decide that quickly on spending an estimated $25

million to $50 million to take over the property’s lease.

The end result? An intriguing possibility -- one that had strong

support from residents who saw the city’s purchase as a way to ensure a

hotel would never be built on the 100 acres along the Back Bay --

apparently will not even get a fair, thorough thought. And both sides

deserve criticism for letting the opportunity slip away so quickly.

The Dunes owners have been all too quiet when it comes to answering

some basic questions that would have made it clear whether there was a

chance the city could buy the land. Are there other bidders? What’s the

price? Would the owners -- Evans Hotels of San Diego -- give preferential

treatment to the city as a show of good faith and community? And why,

after initially welcoming the city’s possible bid, the sudden change of

heart?

City leaders, for their part, must have known that this sale could not

await a lengthy decision. The business dealings of the Dunes, none more

so than its sale, need to move ahead. But there never was a sense of

urgency to make this idea concrete. Why was it not put before a public

hearing, where the pros and cons could have been addressed? Were city

leaders not truly serious about the idea?

There is no indication, on the eve of the deadline, that any positions

have changed. The only news last week was a small move of the deadline,

from Oct. 15 to Oct. 16. It looks as though this idea is one to forget

about.

And, given all these factors, perhaps the city’s purchase of the Dunes

was an impossibility from the start. If that was clear, both sides should

have said so, and not raised hopes in Newport Beach.