New views are in plans for Back Bay

Back Bay enthusiasts will have a new place to sit and survey nature, possibly as soon as this fall.

A small seating area with bleachers, two telescopes, landscaping and interpretive plaques will go in at the corner of Back Bay and Eastbluff drives in the northeastern portion of the bay. The project is a long-held dream of the Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends and was approved last week by the California Coastal Commission.

The naturalists have been giving public tours of the Back Bay since 1968, and they often gather for the tours in the area where improvements are planned, known as Vista Point, said Jack Keating, vice president of the naturalists’ board. They’ve been hoping to build the seating area since about 2000.

There’s a fence and old information kiosk at the site, but the naturalists plan to improve those and add new amenities, California Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist Jeff Stoddard said. The department owns the land that will be improved.

“Most of the stuff [that’s there], we don’t know who put it there, and it’ll just be a nice upgrade,” he said.

Keating said the naturalists have raised part of the estimated $50,000 the work will cost.

They’ll also install a plaque honoring Frank and Frances Robinson, a husband and wife who eventually won a fight with the Irvine Co. to preserve the Upper Newport Bay.

“If it hadn’t been for them, this could well have been a boat marina in the Upper Bay,” Keating said.

The Coastal Commission set several conditions on the project, such as construction staging and runoff control. Keating said volunteers will help with landscaping, and the naturalists hope to have the work done before tours begin in October.