READERS RESPOND

The last thing we need now is another ugly park in Newport Beach. If the Castaway Park at Dover, or the Back Bay Park at the corner of Jamboree and E. Coast Highway, or the Upper Newport Bay Natural reserve on Irvine are any indication of the type of park we’re going to get on Avocado Avenue (which are all just a bunch of overgrown weeds), then I am all for backing Bill Ficker’s proposal for City Hall.

There is honestly no better location in all of Newport Beach for a new city hall. It would be near our main library, near the police headquarters, near the fire station and near Fashion Island, which is without a doubt the center of Newport Beach. The sale of the existing City Hall land near Lido Village would help to pay for whatever the cost is to have a proper city hall. Let’s help Ficker make this happen quicker.

MARK WAKEMAN, Newport Beach

I favor his plan to build on Avocado Avenue.

HENRY MACKEL, Lido Island

Bill Ficker’s proposal to build a new city hall on land that has been promised to the residents of Newport Beach for over a decade as park land is almost laughable if it weren’t for the fact it’s now made it to the front page of the Daily Pilot (a dubious distinction). The real question that the paper should have asked is: When does a city hall, essentially a place where the administrative functions of the city’s government take place, become an “opportunity of unifying the community?” Or even more to the point, why are we considering moving the City Hall location at all, let alone erasing 50% of a promised park site with concrete and asphalt?

JIM COKAS, Newport Beach

Obviously, Bill Ficker does not have to drive through or by the constant traffic jam at the corner of MacArthur and San Miguel. The designated park area adjoining the library would be an impossible spot for the City Hall. It would produce even more traffic. The City Hall could have been built at the corner of MacArthur and E. Coast Highway, but that ended up being another shopping center that does not have enough parking provided for it as it is. Let us continue to make that spot into a park.

ELIZABETH STAHR, Corona del Mar

We haven’t seen the proposal, but the Daily Pilot story seems to lay it out pretty well. We like the concept and particularly like the location. We hope that a few of our local environmentalists don’t make the decision on the location for the rest of us. Somebody should tell Jan Vandersloot that we have a “natural” park at Jamboree and E. Coast Highway. Frankly, we think it looked better when it was a plain old empty lot! If you want “natural,” go walk around the Back Bay. We’re sorry to hear Vandersloot said that this “would happen over my dead body.” We’ve kind of enjoyed reading his long, rambling letters to the editor over the years in the Daily Pilot.

We think the City Council should get on board with Mr. Ficker and really examine his proposal.

DOLORES and GENE KERMIN, Newport Beach

Bill Ficker’s proposal to locate the new City Hall adjacent to our Central Library deserves serious consideration by our elected officials. The City Council should reconsider the decision that denied their appointed site review committee the opportunity to evaluate this site. Of the sites investigated, it seemed apparent early on that the existing City Hall site and a possible Irvine Co. site were the only feasible alternatives. Ficker’s proposed City Hall location would still leave ample room for a park, and all of the great views to the ocean would be preserved. To construct a new City Hall in its current non-central, tsunami-susceptible location would be a disservice to the people of Newport Beach. Even though consideration of this new proposal would mean the City Council may have to undo some previous decisions, it’s not too late. Let’s not be shortsighted and lose out on a real potential opportunity. No views would be impacted, we would still have an ample park and there would be a tremendous cost savings to the taxpayers. A costly interim relocation of City Hall offices to temporary facilities would not be required if City Hall is not reconstructed at its current location.

RON HENDRICKSON, Newport Beach