INSIDE CITY HALL Here are some decisions...

INSIDE CITY HALL

Here are some decisions coming out of Tuesday’s City Council

meeting.

JOSH SLOCUM’S DINNER AND SUPPER CLUB

The council continued until July 13 an appeal hearing on the

club’s request to add live entertainment and dancing. In May, the

Planning Commission granted the Mariner’s Mile club a permit allowing

it to extend its hours to serve lunch and increase its capacity from

133 to 143 people but denied the request to allow entertainment and

further increase the club’s capacity in the evenings. City officials

expressed concerns about parking and traffic on Coast Highway and

noise from the club.

Planner Bill Hodge, representing the club, contended Slocum’s is

willing to meet conditions set by the city, and they requested the

hearing be continued so they can review a long list of calls for

service Newport Beach police said have been made at or near the club

in the last year.

WHAT IT MEANS

Some council members seemed skeptical about increasing the allowed

capacity when club traffic and patrons are a source of complaints

now. However, no residents turned up to oppose the appeal. The

council will revisit the issue at a July 13 meeting.

WHAT THEY SAID

“It’s an extremely tight site,” Councilman Don Webb said. “It’s

one that I really question that we want to look at increasing the

density of the people using it.”

CORONA DEL MAR CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION PLAZA

Council members voted unanimously in favor of a design from the

Corona del Mar Centennial Foundation for improvements commemorating

the village’s 100th anniversary.

WHAT IT MEANS

A clock tower, time capsule and tile seat wall will rise up in the

municipal parking lot and parkway near Coast Highway and Marguerite

Avenue in Corona del Mar. The centennial celebration is set for Oct.

14 to 16.

BACK BAY SCIENCE CENTER

The council voted 5 to 1 to approve cooperative agreements and

funding for the Back Bay Science Center, a $4-million environmental

teaching and testing facility that is being built in collaboration

with the state Department of Fish and Game, UC Irvine, Orange County

and other agencies. Councilman Dick Nichols abstained from the vote.

WHAT IT MEANS

The agreements lay out what each agency is responsible for on the

project. The city is spending $315,000 on the facility and will be

responsible for maintenance of the building, which will be on

Shellmaker Island.

NEWPORT COAST COMMUNITY CENTER

Council members voted 6 to 0 to hire Dougherty and Dougherty

Architects LLP to design and oversee the Newport Coast Community

Center project. The city agreed to chip in $7 million for the

community center as part of the 2002 Newport Coast annexation

agreement.

WHAT IT MEANS

Design work can begin on the three-part facility, which includes

the community center, a gymnasium and a library for an estimated $8.7

million. Whether all of that will be built remains to be seen,

however. Mayor Tod Ridgeway questioned designing a project when there

isn’t enough money to build it, but the Newport Coast Advisory

Committee has said they wanted to include the library in the design

and they might try to raise private funds to make up the funding

shortfall.

RIDGE PARK ROAD SPEED LIMIT REDUCTION

Council members unanimously approved reducing the speed limit from

40 mph to 30 mph on Ridge Park Road between San Joaquin Hills Road

and Newport Coast Drive.

WHAT IT MEANS

Drivers on that portion of Ridge Park Road will have to ease up on

the gas pedal but probably not by much. A staff report showed most

drivers go 33 mph in that area.