Beach plans awaiting final OK

June Casagrande

Two new restroom buildings, a multipurpose building housing a

concession stand, some new landscaping and a slightly larger parking

lot are the main points of a plan to improve Corona del Mar State

Beach.

The City Council on Tuesday approved the concept for the

improvements, but the project still has a number of hurdles to clear

before it becomes definite. The Coastal Commission and several other

administrative bodies must approve the plans before the city will

start accepting bids on the project. Once they’ve picked a bidder,

the matter will return to the council one more time to approve the

contract that will finally make the first part of the project a done

deal.

“We’re not approving the project tonight. This is just to go

forward with the conceptual design,” Mayor Steve Bromberg told

audience members at Tuesday’s council meeting before the council cast

the 6-0 vote. Councilman Dick Nichols abstained because his home is

close to the project area.

Only about $2 million of the cost of the $2.5-million project is

in place. The plans approved Tuesday include suggestions to seek

further funding and ways to scale back the last phase of the project

in case that funding isn’t found. The project won’t use any general

fund money. The $2 million in place comes from the American Trader

Oil Spill Settlement Agreement funds and some state money. Additional

funding could come from state sources.

The plans have drawn opposition from some residents and from

Nichols. Some worry that a lifeguard structure on top of the

concession building would spoil the view. Some oppose the project

because it would reduce the amount of sand area by about 8,800 square

feet.

Fire Chief Tim Riley, whose department oversees lifeguards, said

that the lifeguard station would improve safety at the beach and that

it was designed to preserve views.

City staff say that the loss of sand area includes areas along the

parking lot where a wavy grass pattern will surround the lot under

the new plan.

“We were really responsive, I hope, to concerns about the views,”

Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said.

Nichols and others have worried that the public has not been

brought into the process as well as they should have been. Though

supporters of the plan point out that there have been about 13 public

meetings on the matter, Nichols said that notification for at least

one community meeting was inadequate because only about 300 neighbors

of the project received mailers that the meeting would be held.

Staff members say that the city’s goal is to begin work by

September 2004 and to finish by March 2005.

The multipurpose building would house food concessions, a marine

life education center and an area where lifeguards could apply first

aid. The plans also call for removal of a blue storage facility now

on the site.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.