Developer files lawsuit against city

Man who wanted to build luxury hotel at Marinapark says Newport must give project more time. Hotel designer Stephen Sutherland is suing the city of Newport Beach for at least $1 million and the right to continue developing a luxury hotel on the city-owned Marinapark property.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Orange County Superior Court, after the city rejected claims filed by Sutherland in October and December 2005.

Newport Beach City Atty. Robin Clauson said Friday she could not comment because she hadn’t seen the suit.

The 110-room hotel proposal sparked arguments about whether a commercial use was appropriate for public beachfront property, which is now the site of a mobile-home park, a Girl Scout house, tennis courts and a few other public amenities.

Residents in 2004 voted not to change the city’s general plan to allow the resort, but Sutherland said Friday that he will seek a second vote on the project.

The Newport Beach City Council had invited proposals for the Marinapark property and in 2000 approved an agreement with the hotel designer’s company -- Sutherland Talla Hospitality -- which was the only one of nine prospective bidders to turn in a complete proposal.

The agreement was amended in 2003 to show that Sutherland would put a zoning change needed for the project to a public vote.

The suit claims the city breached its contract with Sutherland and that he still has 18 months to try to develop the hotel, which was estimated to cost $35 million. After voters rejected the hotel zoning change in November 2004, the council ceased negotiating with Sutherland and formed an ad hoc committee to vet projects for Marinapark. No plan has yet been chosen.

“My agreement was based on a period of time, not whether or not there was a successful vote,” Sutherland said.

The money sought in the suit would cover what Sutherland said he spent on the 2004 ballot issue and an environmental report on the hotel project, plus interest and court costs.

City Councilman Tod Ridgeway declined to comment on the suit because of the pending litigation. The city has 30 days to respond to the suit.

News of the lawsuit did not faze Tom Billings, who heads a group called Protect Our Parks, which led a campaign against the resort. The group said Marinapark should be used for a public park, and it submitted a park plan to the city’s ad hoc committee last year.

“We’re going full steam ahead, and we look forward to making a reality of the vote of Measure L [the 2004 ballot issue] to preserve that as parkland,” Billings said.

He’s been closely watching the council because he’s concerned about proposals for a deep-water marina at Marinapark.

“It’s not what the people voted for; it’s not what the people expressed that they wanted when they voted no on [Measure] L,” Billings said.

The ballot issue asked voters whether to change zoning to allow the hotel, but it did not guarantee a park on the site.

Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said the council could resume discussions of Marinapark uses in late February or in March.

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