Public vomiting tips off undercover police

The Newport Beach Planning Commission will discuss today whether to revoke the use permit for a sushi restaurant after undercover police officers reportedly observed patrons drinking and using drugs in the parking lot of the restaurant.

Fury Rok & Rol Sushi Lounge, 4221 Dolphin Striker Way, is licensed as a restaurant and not a night club, which could raise legal issues for the restaurant, Planning Commissioner Michael Toerge said.

“Land use requirements for a nightclub and a restaurant are radically different,” Toerge said.

The sushi lounge is authorized to serve alcohol, but requires a different permit to operate as a nightclub, Toerge said. An investigation into activity at the popular restaurant, which frequently has long lines at the door, uncovered evidence of nightclub-like activity such as dancing, Toerge said.

Attempts to reach an attorney representing the restaurant were unsuccessful Wednesday.

Undercover Newport Beach police officers visited the restaurant in January and reported observing Fury patrons drinking out of plastic cups and urinating and vomiting in the parking lot, according to a Planning Commission staff report.

Among various other alleged illicit activity in the parking lot of the restaurant, one undercover police officer observed “Several males huddle together and take turns leaning over an unknown object holding straws to their noses, indicating to the officer that they were ingesting a narcotic substance,” according to the Planning Commission report.

The Planning Commission also will discuss plans tonight for The Aerie, an eight-unit luxury condominium project on Carnation Avenue in Corona del Mar.

Residents in one Corona del Mar neighborhood believe a coastal bluff is threatened by the plans. Neighbors of the proposed project say the condos don’t fit into the landscape of the neighborhood and that they would spoil the view of the bluff from Newport Harbor.

“We have nothing against developers making money, but not when it would damage a costal bluff that is enjoyed by all the residents and visitors to Newport Beach with excessive development,” said Corona del Mar resident Lisa Vallejo, who lives near the proposed condo site.

The condominiums would have private decks and pools for each unit and an elevator to take cars to underground levels.

The developer originally planned a seven-story building on the spot, but has since chopped off one level of the project to accommodate the complaints of some neighbors.

The Aerie would replace a 60-year-old apartment building that now stands empty. While the new building would have three stories above street level, developer Richard Julian has said he tried to preserve the ocean views for the public and the project’s neighbors.

Vallejo and other residents argue the project is simply too massive for the area and would set a precedent for more development on the bluffs.

“Whether this kind of development is compatible with the adjacent neighbors is the central question in my mind,” Toerge said.

The Newport Beach City Council sent the project back to the planning commission to be reworked in August after neighbors argued over the merits of the development and protecting Corona Del Mar’s coastal bluffs.

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