Marinapark lease terms shelve vote
Deirdre Newman
Uncertainty about proposed lease terms for the Marinapark hotel
project overshadowed the City Council’s consideration of the
agreement Tuesday.
As of press time, no vote had been taken at Tuesday’s council
meeting, but members were leaning toward postponing action on terms
between the city and the developer until those terms had been
tweaked.
The terms would guide negotiations for a ground lease of the
luxury hotel resort, planned for the Balboa Peninsula, if voters
approve Measure L in November. Measure L will ask voters if they want
to change the city’s general plan to allow a hotel on the harbor-side
property, at the site of a mobile-home park and Las Arenas Park.
A majority of City Council members said they did not feel
comfortable with the terms.
“To create a document, which binds the city, when we don’t have
all the terms, and it doesn’t look like we will be able to negotiate
the terms before the election, is not doing voters any service,” said
Councilman John Heffernan, who worked on a committee to help hash out
the agreement. “I’m opposed to going forward on this basis
[tonight].”
Stephen Sutherland has designed a 110-room hotel -- 98 rooms for
nightly rental and 12 for sale -- for the site where mobile homes now
sit. He also offered a host of amenities for neighboring properties,
including renovating the Girl Scout house and a community center.
The agreement, known as a “memorandum of understanding,” was
supposed to allow voters to have concrete information about some of
the financial terms of the project. But that was not the case.
“[Former City Atty.] Bob Burnham said the purpose of the
memorandum of understanding was to give a sense of confidence to
voters, but anyone watching these proceedings has the most total
sense of unconfidence you’ve ever seen in your life,” said Allan
Beek, whose group, Stop Polluting Our Newport, has filed suit against
the city and Marinapark LLC, Sutherland Talla Hospitality over the
project.
The main points of the understanding are offering Sutherland a
five-year option to build his project if he gets all approvals,
funding and a contract with a hotel operator; a ground lease of 50
years; and a base rent payment to the city of $1.1 million per year
when construction is complete or two years after Sutherland exercises
his option to build the project -- whichever comes first.
Some in favor of the luxury hotel encouraged the council and city
staff members to bring back pertinent information about the project.
“I would encourage the City Council to go back and meet with staff
and discuss all of the critical elements that Joe Q. Public can use
to determine if this project is good for Newport Beach,” said Laura
Dietz, a Corona del Mar resident.
The council was leaning toward bringing the matter back at its
next meeting, on Oct. 12.
* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers government. She may be reached at (949)
574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.