Newport doesn’t need harbor-side hotel And just...

Newport doesn’t need harbor-side hotel

And just where does anyone expect employees (as well as hotel

guests) to park in Lido Village [under the proposal for a hotel]

(“Plan would replace Lido Marina Village,” March 12)? Has anybody considered the traffic impact on an already busy intersection at Via

Lido and Newport Boulevard, especially on a hot summer day when

peninsula and beach traffic backs all the way up Newport Boulevard to

the Costa Mesa Freeway? Ask emergency service personnel, especially

paramedics, lifeguards and firefighters how easy it is for them to

get through this type of congestion. Never mind the hew and cry that

will arise from Lido Isle residents if their primary access-exit

route is impeded. What about the possibility that hotel staff, as

well as “looky-loos” (even more than exists already), will be driving

and/or parking on the island’s streets.

We should be proud of our nautical-beachside heritage that is

Newport and showcase that through appropriate architecture and venue

utilization. Although our climates are similar, this is not the Cote

d’Azur or anything else Mediterranean. Chris Sullivan said it best in

the Daily Pilot Forum from March 13: “Newport Beach does not need

another artificial Italian-style development that tries to create a

place that Newport is not.” Right on. Nor does it need a modern,

sheet metal-clad “Cyber City” that is the Cannery Village condo

project. The quaint character of what was Cannery Village is gone

forever.

People can hardly even see the harbor any more. Unless you’re a

hotel guest or are shopping or dining on the property, there doesn’t

seem to be much likelihood of enjoying a waterfront view. Developers

say that is not true and that they provide public access walkways,

such as at the Balboa Bay Club. However, the hotel and management

staff can sometimes have a rather intimidating effect unless you’re

spending money with them. Look at Miami Beach -- a continuous

beachfront barricade of towering hotels and condo complexes.

Don’t existing establishments generate enough revenue (sales/bed

tax and whatnot) to fill the city’s coffers and line those with “deep

pockets” with money? Mike Whitehead, the Pilot’s boating and harbor

columnist, offered a suggestion on March 12 that seemed to be a

little more user-friendly: “Lido Village would make a great boat mall

instead of condos.”

I’m all for “enhancing quality of life” but not at our community’s

expense. People choose to live in Newport for what it already offers,

not for what developers deem it should. Please, just say no to

another luxury hotel and condo complex. Newport doesn’t need it!

JILL C. RICHARDS

Newport Beach

Newport leaders should keep

Florida a continent away

What a shame it would be to destroy the picturesque ambience of

Lido Village as it is now and replace it with Palm Beach, Fla.-type

condos and hotel. Keep it as it is.

RAYMOND AND BARBARA DUNNING

Balboa Island

There’s nothing funny

about youth soccer case

In regards to March 13 story, “Hearing for former AYSO

commissioner postponed”: The story was a joke and a slap in the face

of all parents who believe in AYSO soccer. The story was bias toward

a man accused of embezzling money raised for kids.

I find it hard to believe that Anthony Anish is just now coming up

with receipts and invoices that would somehow magically absolve him

of embezzling $108,000-plus dollars from AYSO Region 97. Where were

all these receipts and invoices when the Newport Beach Police raided

his home, office and storage containers? Does Steve Bickel, the

prosecutor in the case, think the police department did not

adequately investigate this case? I find no humor, nor do I think it

was very professional for Bickel to be laughing in the hallways of

the courthouse. As far as I know, Anish is still the defendant.

The article referred to losses that were incurred by Anish and [to

his blaming] others for his misdeeds. Shame on Anish for blaming

everyone but himself. The only losses incurred were to 1,700 children

who play soccer in Region 97. The money taken by Anish was supposed

to be for lighted soccer fields. Lights would have created a new

avenue (the night) to play and practice soccer. We no longer have

that option.

How many more times are we going to see a postponement in this

case? How many more times is Anish going to be allowed to con his way

out of another predicament?

CHARLOTTE BACA

Newport Beach

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Charlotte Baca is a volunteer in AYSO Region 97.

Study of pollution from

John Wayne Airport needed

The article appearing in the Saturday Daily Pilot about the

planned marine studies center and water quality laboratory on

Shellmaker Island at Newport Bay is a welcome addition to our lovely

Newport Bay (“Commission to vote on marine center”).

However, I believe that another study should be included in this

project, namely, that of the effect of airplane traffic over the bay

emanating from John Wayne Airport.

It is my understanding that every jet take-off from John Wayne

drops about hydrocarbon residue on the Upper Bay area. Since air

traffic is increasing at the rate of more than 8% a year out of the

airport, this amount of pollution should be measured and considered

as part of any study made of the Back Bay and surrounding area.

Without some control on this source of pollution, there may not be

very much marine life to study in the future.

Since this is a research center, the addition of this topic, the

effect of airport pollution on the bay environment, should be

included in the study of marine life and water quality in the Upper

Newport Bay.

SHIRLEY A. CONGER

Corona del Mar