MAILBAG:

I am and have been a resident of Irvine Terrace in Corona del Mar for more than 20 years.

My family and I have walked to and dined at the Panini Cafe on PCH since it opened. We have watched them grow from what initially was a struggling coffeehouse to a thriving business that has now outgrown its current space. Only this morning we dined on the sidewalk as 12 or 15 people waited for seating. As we sat there, we noted more than half the people were neighbors that, like us, had not driven, but walked to the restaurant. This is the type of business a community needs and wants in its neighborhood: a neighborhood business. The waiters all know our “the normal” meal we choose and give service with a smile.

I would like to register my emphatic support for Panini’s application to remodel and use the old rug store as a new home for their business. The city of Newport must encourage solid and successful enterprises to thrive in our community. I would be willing to bet that many, if not most, of the people signing the opposing petitions have been in the community less time than Panini. Furthermore, I wonder how many of them live in the two-unit per lot residential units in the neighborhood in the “Flower Streets” that are seriously under parked and therefore impact off-site street parking much more than Panini will. All you have to do is walk the neighborhood at night after the Corona del Mar restaurants close to see how the streets are burdened by the residential off-site parking.

As for the other petition citing “Alcohol Alley,” Panini’s clientele is not the booze crowd. Consuming a glass of beer or wine with dinner does not equate the problems associated with restaurants with full bars that have people drinking for hours before and after their meals.

I encourage you to support Panini’s application and tell the NIMBYs trying to thwart it to move to Irvine, where they can live in a controlled and sterile bedroom city that has no sense of community.

STEVE NICHOLS

Newport Beach

Chancellor Drake’s decision to rehire Chemerinsky is, in my opinion, keeping with his past behavior.

Having had the opportunity to observe him close-up when he dealt with another university crisis, I find him to be intellectually dishonest and unable to tell the truth to himself, the university, or the community in both instances.

A.M. RAFF

Newport Beach

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