13 locales in consideration for new hall

Baker’s dozen of suggestions includes Back Bay View Park, Newport Center, Mariner’s Mile.Look out the window of Newport Beach City Hall, and the view is likely to be old buildings, parked cars or traffic on Newport Boulevard.

But imagine while waiting for your building permit, you’re gazing at birds alighting on the Back Bay.

Or planes taking off from John Wayne Airport.

A city committee will consider a list of 13 possible sites for a city hall, including the existing Balboa Peninsula location. Some of the other suggestions to be vetted are sites by the airport and two that overlook the water, as well as several near Newport Center.

The council formed the committee in response to some residents’ complaints that the council hadn’t looked at the options before deciding to replace the current City Hall building, a $48-million project.

Many of the proposed sites will have obstacles, and the biggest deal-breaker will be if the land isn’t for sale, said committee chairman Larry Tucker. He added that the city doesn’t intend to use eminent domain to take any site, so if the city doesn’t own it and the owner isn’t selling, the site will fall off the list.

One suggestion was the Land Rover dealership and nearby police and fire station sties, which together would be large enough for city hall facilities.

“That’s a typical situation we’re looking at -- where’s the Land Rover dealership going to go, where’s the police station going to go, where’s the fire department going to go,” Tucker said. “Most, if not all, of the sites are not just ready to go.”

City Councilman Steve Rosansky, one of three council members on the committee, said the Orange County Museum of Art site piques his interest -- if it becomes available. Art museum officials are considering a move to Costa Mesa’s arts district, but the plans are still in early stages.

That’s the rub with a number of the suggestions, Rosansky said.

“I don’t think there’s a property on the list that you’d say, ‘Oh my God; this is it,’ ” he said.

The site committee met for the first time Monday. At future meetings, it will run the sites through a checklist and decide whether they’re feasible. Members will look at, for example, whether the site can accommodate at least 72,000 square feet of building space and 300 parking spaces; is it centrally located; whether a public vote would be required to change the land use; and which other government agencies, if any, would have to approve the plans.

With a long list of constraints, it may be tough to find a site that beats out the existing one, which Rosansky has supported all along.

“I have an open mind, but I haven’t seen a better one yet,” he said.

Tucker wants more public input and welcomes people to come to the meetings, which will be held every other Monday at 4 p.m. in the City Council chambers. The next meeting is March 6.

He’s already gotten some ideas.

Many of the suggestions the committee is now considering came from residents who spoke up at earlier meetings or sent e-mails about City Hall.

“One guy responded that it ought to be in Victorville, and his reason is, ‘At least if it’s in Victorville, I’ll know why I had to wait two hours to get an answer to a question,’ ” Tucker said.

IN THE RUNNING

The Newport Beach city hall site committee will consider the following locations for a new city hall:

* The existing City Hall.

* A vacant site between MacArthur Boulevard and Avocado Avenue, north of San Miguel Drive.

* The Orange County Museum of Art and old library site in Newport Center.

* The Land Rover dealership and fire and police station sites on Jamboree Road near Santa Barbara Drive.

* A site near the Newport Beach Country Club entrance in Corporate Plaza West.

* Banning Ranch or a school site there.

* A building at Campus Drive and Dove Street across from John Wayne Airport.

* Back Bay View Park.

* A site near Mesa Drive and Birch Street near the airport.

* Camelback Street near Temple Bat Yahm and the post office.

* The inland portion of the Ardell property on West Coast Highway in Mariner’s Mile.

* Newport Dunes.

The committee will accept other suggestions any time through its final meeting in late April. Ideas can be e-mailed to the city manager’s office at hbludau@city.newport-beach.ca.us.