NEWPORT BEACH Proposed resort will submit environmental...

NEWPORT BEACH

Proposed resort will submit

environmental impact report

A study of the Regent Newport Beach Resort planned to be built on

the Peninsula will focus on traffic, aesthetics, water-quality and

other concerns about the proposed 110-room luxury resort. The City

Council on Tuesday approved a contract for a consultant to do

environmental studies on the project. The $195,000 cost of the study

will be paid by the developer, Sutherland Talla Hospitality.

* City Manager Homer Bludau gave the council a thorough accounting

on a set of priorities he set at the beginning of the fiscal year.

Among the successes was the extension of the John Wayne Settlement

Agreement. Among the projects that are not yet completed is the plan

to renew the city’s contracts with its cable television providers.

* Rumor has it that someone has been policing the city’s harbor

permit holders, telling them they can’t hose off their docks and

boats and let the water run into the bay. The odd thing is that it’s

not the city who’s out talking to people. City officials will send

out letters telling people how to help protect local water quality.

* 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.

COSTA MESA

Air quality on Westside equal to its surroundings

On Monday the South Coast Air Quality Management District

presented a report during a City Council study session that shows the

Westside’s air quality is right on average for the area.

The district found that in the Westside industrial area, there

were 74 complaints in 2002, with the highest number based on odor. It

sent out 29 notices of compliance and nine notices of violation

within the same time period.

* Officials at the Prince of Peace Church on Mesa Verde Drive East

started installing a root barrier on Baker Street to prevent the

roots of ficus trees they planted without city approval from causing

damage to the sidewalk.

Many residents in the area had complained that the roots were a

hazard. They prefer city officials require the trees be removed, as

they did in 2002. But subsequent negotiations led city officials to

allow the trees to stay as long as the church took measures to

control the roots.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.

POLITICS

Ueberroth decides to quit gubernatorial recall race

For rent: One slightly used campaign office.

The luck of the Costa Mesa office may be a turn-off, however, for

perspective tenants. It first housed the failed California recall

campaign of Rep. Darrell Issa. Then, Laguna Beach resident Peter

Ueberroth moved in.

Last week, citing the inability to get out a substantive message,

not to mention his low showing in polls, the former baseball

commissioner and organizer of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles

withdrew from the hunt to replace Gov. Gray Davis.

Ueberroth had been Newport-Mesa’s favorite, at least financially,

far out-raising his competition.

* S.J. CAHN is the managing editor. He can be reached at (949)

574-4233 or by e-mail at s.j.cahn@latimes.com.

PUBLIC SAFETY AND COURTS

Mount Carmel priest put on leave by diocese

A Newport Beach Roman Catholic priest was placed on administrative

leave this month after a Riverside County man filed a lawsuit

alleging that the priest molested him about 25 years ago.

The suit, filed in Orange County Superior Court, names both Msgr.

Daniel Murray pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and the

Diocese of Orange in the lawsuit that accuses the priest of sexually

abusing the then 8-year-old victim in Garden Grove over a six-year

period.

He has denied the allegations.

Murray, who has been pastor of the Balboa Peninsula church for

four years, was placed on administrative leave on Sept. 2 when he

returned from his vacation, said Father Joe Fenton, spokesman for the

Diocese of Orange.

The lawsuit states that Murray inappropriately touched the boy

when he came to the priest for support when his parents were going

through a divorce. Murray continued to sexually abuse the victim

although the boy resisted, it states.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.