Sea base expansion on hold

-- Paul Clinton

Plans to expand the Boy Scout sea base in Corona del Mar were put on

hold indefinitely by the California Coastal Commission this week.

The Orange County chapter of the Boy Scouts has been working to expand

the base for almost four years.

The project hit the skids in mid-December, when commission staff

members objected to the height of the project, saying it would reduce the

view of Newport Harbor from West Coast Highway by about 20%.

The commission pulled the item from its agenda at a Wednesday meeting

in San Diego. It has not been rescheduled, a spokeswoman with the

commission’s Long Beach office said.

As a part of the plan, the Scouts want to construct two buildings,

which would be 31 feet high and provide 8,215 square feet of classroom

and office space. The base is at 1931 W. Coast Highway.

The Scouts also want to build a 31-foot-high, 6,400-square-foot

manager’s apartment, storage and exercise building on the east end of the

base.

The Scouts would demolish the base’s two existing structures -- a

1,785-square-foot, one-story manager’s apartment and a 490-square-foot,

one-story storage building.

The $4.5-million project would double the number of Scouts who could

use the base. About 30,000 now use it per year.