Information on Marinapark available

June Casagrande

Gearing up for what’s likely to be a complicated and controversial

vote on a luxury resort on the Balboa Peninsula, the city has

launched a one-stop information source to inform voters about the

project.

More than a month before a draft environmental report on a luxury

resort at Marinapark is complete, residents can view a site plan,

read a 44-page preliminary study, keep up to date on upcoming

hearings, and read some of their neighbors’ initial concerns about

the project.

“A lot of the concerns so far have been about traffic and

parking,” Assistant City Manager Sharon Wood said.

Developer Stephen Sutherland has repeatedly said that the traffic

attracted by the project will be minimal.

“Basically, the main concern I’m hearing from people is just that

they want to be sure we’ll develop the project the way we planned

it,” Sutherland said.

A draft environmental report is scheduled to be completed next

month but might take a little longer, Wood said. The report will

include information on how much traffic will be added to nearby roads

by the resort.

The draft environmental report will be made available to the

public. Residents will have 45 days to review the document and submit

comments.

Besides traffic, residents have already identified a number of

areas they want the environmental study to look at. Employee parking,

traffic safety and availability of public recreation facilities on

the site are among the concerns that environmental researchers are

taking into consideration.

The Greenlight Committee has opposed the project, in part because

it will affect a park now at the site. Its members have also said

they believe the project should be subject to a Greenlight vote

because the process for sending the project to a Greenlight vote

would likely mean more financial information would be available to

voters.

“We believe this skirts the Greenlight requirement of full

disclosure prior to a vote,” Greenlight Spokesman Phil Arst said.

The matter is slated to be on the ballot in the general election

in November. The ballot will ask voters whether they believe the

project should be built.

The Regent Newport Beach Resort is planned as a 110-room luxury

resort at the site of the Marinapark mobile home park and Las Arenas

Park on Balboa Boulevard between 15th and 18th streets. The mobile

home park would be removed. The Girl Scout house, community center,

tot lot and a portion of the tennis courts would be rebuilt at

different locations on the site. The land and the beach behind it

would continue to be public property.

Information on the project is available at the city’s Web site,

https://www.city.newport-beach.ca.us. Under the menu for

“News/Events,” select “Regent Newport Beach Resort.”