City hall report divides

Newport Beach would save $10 million by building city hall on land planned for a park it already owns, rather than buying an Orange County Transportation Authority park-and-ride site down the street and constructing it there, a consultant said in a report to the City Council.

The sites are just blocks apart in Newport Center. Building on the city-owned park land next to the central library would run about $55 million, while building at the park-and-ride station would cost about $65 million, according to the DMJM Design study. The $65 million estimate includes relocating transportation facilities.

After several years of study, the City Council split in February over where to put a new city hall, and some hoped having hard numbers would illuminate one of the two possible sites as more feasible. But council members on both sides of the issue are questioning the estimated $10 million difference.

Councilman Ed Selich, who prefers the transportation authority property, believes the difference is smaller. He pointed out the analysis doesn’t include land costs — either to buy the authority’s property, or to replace lost parkland as required by city policies.

But Councilman Don Webb thinks the two figures are actually further apart, with the park site emerging as the best option.

While the numbers are still a bit muddy, it’s clear there will be a showdown on the city hall issue at Tuesday’s council meeting. The report only cemented Selich’s and Webb’s earlier positions, and both said they’re ready to make a decision.

In the meantime, supporters of building on the park site are working to get the issue before voters on the February ballot.

In a nutshell, the consultant’s report estimates a 72,000-square-foot city hall and parking garage at either site would cost roughly $40 million. The rest of the costs are for clearing and grading the land and, in the case of the park-and-ride facility, razing and relocating some bus shelters and other amenities.

Park supporters have said the massive excavation and retaining walls that would be required on the park parcel would be a strike against it, but according to the study there’s less than a $130,000 difference in the cost of work on the two parcels.

Land-acquisition costs are unknown, but they’ll be attached to both the park parcel and the transportation site. If the city builds on the 12.8-acre park property it would have to replace about 3.6 acres that would be taken up by city buildings.

To put city hall on the bus center, the city would have to negotiate with the Orange County Transportation Authority for its parcel and with the Irvine Co., which owns an adjacent plot that would be the new park-and-ride station.

Those on either side of the issue suggest the costs could be altered by various factors.

Selich said the city might be able to bargain down the cost of relocating bus facilities, and he thinks the study underestimates how much active park space a city hall would use up — meaning more than 3.6 acres would need to be purchased.

To Webb’s mind, the park space lost to a city hall would be less than 3.6 acres because of parking the facilities could share. He also believes the Irvine Co. plot in question is zoned as open space, so under city policy that would have to be replaced if something gets built there.

The bottom line is Selich and Webb seem to have dug in their heels, and the report hasn’t budged them. The question is whether other council members will be influenced. But both expect a decision Tuesday night.

“I’ve always said that just the absolute cost on this wasn’t going to be the criteria that made the difference to me,” Selich said. “If you’ve got two sites that work equally well, why would you pick one that destroys a park?”

Webb, meanwhile, said the report is proof the park site is feasible.

“The OCTA site is not as good a site in my opinion, both based on dollars as well as layout,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned I’m ready to go forward based on the report. I think the $10 million is significant, and I don’t think we should be ignoring it.”