Marinapark will go to public vote

June Casagrande

Voters will decide in November 2004 whether developer Stephen

Sutherland should be allowed to build a 110-room luxury resort at

Marinapark.

Council members voted 6 to 1 on Tuesday to put the matter on the

ballot and to require an environmental study of the project.

Opponents of the beachfront resort on the peninsula gave council

members an earful on why they believe the project should be stopped.

“The people of this city do not want a hotel at Las Arenas Park,”

said Tom Hyans, president of the Central Newport Beach Community

Assn. and an outspoken opponent of the hotel.

The council chamber was nearly full late into the night with a mix

of opponents and supporters gathered to speak on the project.

“I’m convinced that Stephen Sutherland [the project’s developer]

is a good neighbor now and he will be a good neighbor after this

project is built,” resident Jeff Davis said.

Council members said that Tuesday’s action was the only way to

assure that voters decide the matter and that an environmental study

of the project be done. Under current rules, if a developer puts a

project on a ballot through a ballot initiative, he is not required

to produce environmental studies.

“This is just to put this to a vote of the people,” Mayor Steve

Bromberg said. “That’s a good thing. I can’t imagine why anyone

wouldn’t want this to go to a vote of the people.”

Councilman Dick Nichols cast the dissenting vote, saying he has

concerns that the project is not appropriate for the area.

Developer Sutherland Talla Hospitality was selected by the city to

develop the oceanfront property that now hosts the Marinapark mobile

home park and the Las Arenas Park and tennis courts. Sutherland first

introduced a 156-room resort, but scaled back the project to 110

rooms to win community support.

Residents opposing the project, led by Hyans -- also a Greenlight

Committee member -- have said that the resort would change the

character of the peninsula. Some believe that the city-owned land

should either remain a mobile home park or be made into public

property.

If the resort is built, the beach behind it would still be public.