City to pay $5 million for land

NEWPORT BEACH — The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to pay the state $5 million for a 15-acre parcel at Superior Avenue and Coast Highway.

The sale still must be approved by the California Transportation Commission. If it goes forward, Newport will develop the land as a park with ball fields, at a possible cost of $5 million or more.

“I think it’ll be a welcome addition to west Newport once we have the ballfields there,” Newport Beach City Councilman Steve Rosansky said at last night’s council meeting.

Caltrans bought the property years ago when a coastal freeway was planned, but after Newport officials blocked the freeway plan the parcel was considered surplus.

The transportation commission will discuss the land sale at an early September meeting.

“It’s my hope that we can get this approved and get it on its way,” commission Chairwoman Marian Bergeson, a Newport Beach resident, said earlier Tuesday.

The city and state have been talking about the sale for years and in 2005 were close to a deal under which Newport would have leased the property. But officials couldn’t agree on the lease rate — the city was prepared to pay $1.35 million up front and a minimal annual amount, but the state wanted $800,000 a year, Rosansky said.

City officials said it’s better in the long run for Newport to own the property, and they believe $5 million is a good deal.

“What we’ve heard is that there was an appraisal done valuing it at $8 million, but to me there’s no use on that land that’s equal to $8 million” Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said. He added that the land’s previous residential zoning would fetch much more than that, but the current recreation zoning would make the land worth much less.

Bergeson said the city could use a park near the Caltrans parcel.

“I think there was always a concern that they needed to have open space down there. It was becoming cluttered down in that area,” she said.