Newport Coast resort will fit area perfectly

Up and down the Orange County coast, luxury resorts are popping up

like diamonds in a (well-groomed) rough. Huntington Beach has the

Hilton. Laguna Beach has the Montage. Monarch Beach and Dana Point

have the St. Regis and Ritz Carlton. Newport Beach just got the new

Balboa Bay Club and Resort.

Now Newport Coast is set to join the party.

Within the next few years, if all goes according to plan, the

Irvine Co. will build a resort at Pelican Hill, a luxury stop with

204 guest rooms in 40 bungalows, 52 vacation homes, 68

shared-ownership villas, a spa and a new golf club house.

There will be challenges, of course. Although the project is not

affected by the city’s growth-control Greenlight law, residents are

certain -- and right -- to raise concerns about possible traffic and

environmental problems. And the Irvine Co. will be wise to ensure

that the construction is sensitive to the surrounding area, which

includes Crystal Cove State Park, and that the process is open to

review.

Why? Because if company officials do so, this looks to be a

project that fits this area perfectly.

Newport-Mesa, with its world-class beaches, its shopping -- from

South Coast Plaza to Fashion Island -- and its fine dining, is the

perfect spot for a high-class resort. With such a climate, it is

amazing that until this month, with the Bay Club’s reopening, there

was no top-notch resort in the area. (The Four Seasons, while

luxurious, doesn’t have the full-run amenities of a resort.)

The benefits go beyond the perks for visitors, of course. The

resort will pump money into the city’s budget, and those visitors are

certain to spend money while they are here, adding to the area’s

tourist-based economy.

It is a project that just makes sense. And one that will make

dollars, too.

It should be one that residents of the Newport-Mesa area support.