Balboa Marina West restaurant plan gets Planning Commission go-ahead
Despite objections about the size of the project from some Linda Isle residents, the Newport Beach Planning Commission signed off Thursday on a proposed waterfront restaurant along a stretch of East Coast Highway that once was home to the Reuben E. Lee.
The Reuben E. Lee, a riverboat that opened in the 1950s, housed a restaurant and then a nautical museum before it was dismantled in 2008. The Irvine Co. has been working to expand the west side of its private Balboa Marina ever since.
The Irvine Co., which owns the 3.5-acre parcel between Bayside Drive and the Coast Highway bridge, proposes to build eight new public boat slips, reconfigure the private marina and add 24 new slips, and build a 14,252-square-foot restaurant as part of its Balboa Marina West project. The plans will need California Coastal Commission approval before construction can begin.
“We live in a city that’s blessed with an incredible environment with great amenities, both residential and commercial,” said Planning Commission Chairman Kory Kramer. “There’s always this tension that exists, but it’s important to be a city that provides a broad array of services to our local community and particularly to those that are outside of our city as well. It’s a great responsibility that we have, and it’s important that we balance all of those interests.”
The Planning Commission last year unanimously approved an environmental review for the project. However, the design of the restaurant was not finalized at the time, so commissioners asked the Irvine Co. to return for approval of that portion, which was granted unanimously Thursday night.
The one-story restaurant design is expected to be contemporary, with a sliding glass wall system, a metal roof with skylights, decorative steel accents and a patio. The restaurant could be open from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily with full alcoholic beverage service and live entertainment. Dancing would not be permitted, according to city documents.
Several Linda Isle residents asked the commission to hold off on making a decision, saying not enough community outreach had been done. Residents like Margo O’Connor, whose home is across the water from the proposed restaurant site, are concerned about noise and other quality-of-life issues that they say would be exacerbated by the project.
A city noise study indicates that if the restaurant’s large sliding doors are left open during live musical acts, the sound could exceed local noise standards. To mitigate the possible effects, the restaurant would have to close the doors at night when live music is being played, according to city documents.
“I’m concerned with how this will change the character of the area,” O’Connor said. “This is a very sizable project ... so sizable that we could be deprived of the ability to enjoy our own property and enjoy a good night’s sleep.”
