American Legion Post is sitting pretty
With another year comes perhaps another Greenlight vote in Newport
Beach. Developer Stephen Sutherland would like to build a new luxury
resort on Balboa Peninsula at the Marinapark mobile home park and
recently announced that the American Legion Post 291 site would be left
untouched.
The City Council has said, and Sutherland agrees, that he needs the
legion’s blessing before the project can go anywhere. Sutherland hopes
the project will make the Nov. 5 ballot.
On Thursday, Assistant City Editor James Meier sat down with the
legion’s commander, J.T. Tarwater, to discuss the project and the
legion’s desire to extend its year-to-year lease with the city to about
50 years.
Q: What would be the ideal turnout when it comes to the Marinapark
luxury resort proposal?
A: They’ve already agreed they’re leaving us alone, so that’s the
ultimate for us. We, as legionnaires, are not political, so we can’t get
really involved whether we’re for a hotel or against a hotel.
Individually, we surely can, but, as a commander, I can’t say what the
legion is for or against. That’s just a policy that we have, that we
don’t get into the politics, which is a good thing.
Q: Now, individually, would you say whether you support the project?
A: I don’t really know at this time. Until I really see what they’re
going to do and what happens, it’s tough to say. It’s changed probably
five times since they started, so I don’t know what it’ll wind up being
if it ever is.
Q: The City Council told the developer he needs the legionnaires’
support, which of course puts the legion in a great spot. How does that
make you feel, having that city support?
A: Oh, I think it’s great. Of course we’ve got not only the government
of the city, but the residents of the city are all in favor of the
legion. We just do so much community service work.
Q: What is the process for gaining the legion’s support? Who in the
legion would make that decision?
A: The general membership, which is 2,040 voting members strong.
Q: When that time comes, how would you go about that?
A: We’ll probably just advertise the fact that we’re going to have a
vote on it, and whoever shows up votes. Everything has to be done in
person at the legion. There’s no proxies.
Q: Were you looking forward to a new legion hall with double the
parking?
A: It would have been nice, but I personally don’t think that he could
deliver what he promised. I don’t think that it was feasible. To build a
new marina in this harbor would probably take 10 years of approvals, if
you even got it. There are certain things that the [California] Coastal
Commission, as we all know, gets involved in, and they usually act very
slow and methodical and usually don’t want a lot more growth in here.
Q: At this point, you probably won’t be able to say, but does it
appear as if the legion is leaning toward or against supporting the
project?
A: Actually, you’re right, at this point, we’re saying nothing. My
main goal is to get a long-term lease signed for us here. Once we get
that, then we can go on to something else. Until we get a long-term
lease, it’s not in our best interest to go either way.
Q: How much longer will it be until you nail down that long-term
lease?
A: We are supposed to have a rough draft of the lease in approximately
two weeks. We will evaluate it rapidly, so we can get it done.
Q: Who’s involved in those negotiations besides the city and yourself?
A: Myself, Dennis Lahey and Greg Petersen. There’s three of us who are
handling the initial negotiations. Once we get it down to where we want
it and where we think it’s going to work, then we’ll get the executive
board to look at it and approve it. From there, we’ll have the general
membership approve it, and then we’ll sign it.
Q: Right now, you’re working on a 50-year lease?
A: Yes.
Q: And will that be similar to what you have now, where you pay $1 a
year?
A: It’s never been $1 a year. All the newspaper articles say $1 a
year, and that’s not true. We pay, and it varies because it’s all based
on percentages, probably in the neighborhood of $110,000 a year.
Q: Where did that $1 come from?
A: That’s what we’re proposing to pay.
Q: Where does that $110,000 come from?
A: The marina rents. We pay them for parking, so the parking lot. We
pay a fee for the hall being here even though we built it. We also built
the marina.
It just seems like it’s way too much money for a veterans
organization. It’s money we could use in much better ways than the city.
With the veterans hospital, veterans charities and all the work that we
do, that money could be much more effective than going in the city
coffers.
Q: If you have to raise $110,000 for that, you probably don’t have too
much left over for anything else you do want to do right now.
A: We do a lot of fund-raisers -- parties, raffles, different things
-- to get money to support the veterans hospital and all the other
charities that we support.
Of course the city uses our hall for nothing; they have meetings and
different groups, like the Parks and Recreations Department will have a
retirement dinner or business meetings when they want to get away from
City Hall. Newport Harbor High School uses it for their football
banquets. The Girl Scouts use it. You know, a lot of community people
that we don’t charge. So we feel that is worth something to get our rent
lowered.
Q: What are your personal thoughts on the Greenlight Initiative?
A: I don’t really know. I think we have too much traffic down here.
Just try driving up and down on a Saturday afternoon. The reason that
worries me about the traffic is the emergency care. If the streets are
all full of cars and it’s all backed up and someone down six blocks from
here has a heart attack at home, it’s a little difficult to get the
paramedics there or firetrucks or whatever we need. That’s my main
concern.
And of course Newport’s an older city, and we have a lot of elderly
people that probably need that care really bad.
Q: Are you pleased with the process so far?
A: So far I am. We’re further along than we’ve ever been. The City
Council has voted many times to begin immediate negotiations with us and
never did, so at least we are sitting down and talking to them now, and
we’re hammering out details. And, like I said, we should have the rough
draft in two weeks. I’m very optimistic.
Q: Any final thoughts?
A: I just hope we get it done soon so we can get on to doing what
we’re doing. I’d just like to say that, as the commander here, I
definitely appreciate all the citizens’ support for us. A lot of them
have stepped up to the plate at City Council meetings and petitions and
things to help us. We really appreciate that.
BIO
Name: J.T. Tarwater
Birthplace: Kansas City, Mo.
Age: 59
Residence: Newport Beach, six years
Title: Commander of American Legion Post 291
Occupation: General contractor for 25 years
Military service: Army, 1960 to 1962
Family: Daughter Kim, sons John and Mark, and two grandchildren
Hobbies: Boating
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