Suit may affect city hall

An environmental group’s lawsuit filed last week against the city of Newport Beach over a $43 million development agreement with the Irvine Co. could affect where Newport can build its next city hall.

With residents slated to vote Feb. 5 on Measure B — a hotly contested ballot measure that would require the next city hall to be built on a piece of city-owned land next to the central library — the stakes are high.

“I think this lawsuit is unfortunate and I think it’s going to cost the city millions of dollars if Measure B passes,” said Newport Beach Councilman Keith Curry, who opposes Measure B.

That’s an assertion Measure B supporter and member of the group City Hall in the Park Ron Hendrickson rejects. He said any legal challenge would be cleared up before the city would begin city hall construction.

“I don’t think this is a serious setback for a city hall in the park because it does not affect us,” Hendrickson said. “City hall would not be under construction for at least another two years. The naysayer will make those sort of comments by saying ‘Oh, this is really going to cause problems,’ but this is not going to be a long litigation, it’s is going to resolve things very quickly.”

The development agreement includes $27 million in fees for the city to build city hall or other municipal buildings and an option for Newport to purchase property in the Newport Center block between Santa Rosa and San Nicholas drives for a new city hall at the city’s appraised price of about $7.7 million.

If the city passes Measure B, the lawsuit could keep the deal tied up in court and force the city to borrow up to $60 million to pay for a new city hall next to the library, Curry said. The ballot measure would amend the city charter to require city hall to be constructed next to the municipal library on Avocado Avenue.

“If Measure B is defeated, the city can wait up to four years for resolution of the suit or it can decide to rebuild city hall at its present site should the lawsuit succeed,” Karen Tringali, a member of Newporters Vote No on B committee, wrote in a statement.

Councilman Steve Rosansky, who helped broker the agreement with the Irvine Co., said he’s confident the city will win and the deal will go through. The suit casts uncertainty on the availability of the Irvine Co.’s city hall site, said Rosansky, who supports Measure B.

As part of the agreement, zoning for the area would create a new planned community that merges two blocks of Newport Center, Fashion Island and San Joaquin Plaza to form North Newport Center Planned Community. In total, the deal includes about $43 million in development fees, road and park improvements and other benefits from the Irvine Co.

The Newport Beach-based environmental group Defend the Bay filed a petition in Orange County Superior Court Friday to challenge the legality of the agreement. Activist Bob Caustin, who founded the organization, told the Daily Pilot in November he believed environmental impact studies should be done in the area before the agreement was approved.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.