City may look at legion lease

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- The City Council will consider creating a committee

to review the American Legion’s lease on its Balboa Peninsula property, a

move that could have serious implications for a controversial luxury

resort project at Marinapark.

The site is the center of a debate over a five-star, 156-room resort

that developer Stephen Sutherland wants to build on the city-owned

Marinapark property -- the home to the American Legion Post 291 since

1949. Dominated mainly by a mobile home park, the site also has some

wide-open beach access.

Sutherland’s project includes plans to move the Legionnaires from

their current location at 15th Street to a new hall the developer will

build for them at the opposite end of the lot. For this reason and others

that range from traffic concerns to parking problems to beach access, the

proposed resort has drawn a roar of protest from the community.

While still waiting for the developer to present revised plans for the

hotel, City Council members on Tuesday will vote on whether to create a

committee to examine the legion’s $1-a-year lease on the 10-acre site.

Specifically, the committee would consider whether to change the American

Legion Post’s lease from an annual renewal basis to a longer-term

commitment.

“Right now, the American Legion is on a year-to-year lease, and we

really want to talk to them about it,” City Manager Homer Bludau said.

Last November, council members entered into an exclusive agreement

with the developer. But they said they will support the project only if

the veterans agree to the move.

City Councilman Tod Ridgeway, whose district includes Marinapark, said

the committee likely would include two council members and would also

help guide the council in making a future decision on the hotel plans.

The committee, he said, could help the city stay flexible in its

options until members take a position on what to do with the property.

“I think we will honor a long-term commitment to maintaining the

American Legion on the property,” Ridgeway said. “They’ve had a presence

there for a long time, and we’re committed to maintaining that presence.”

Before a hotel could be built there, the Planning Commission and City

Council would have to approve plans. Then, under the city’s Greenlight

Initiative that requires voter approval of projects large enough to

require an amendment to the city’s general plan, the matter would be put

to a vote of the people.