Banning Ranch and Museum House lose approvals and Councilman Peotter avoids recall in Newport’s top 2017 stories

A couple of 2016’s bigger development stories continued to make news this year in Newport Beach.

The owners of the Banning Ranch property took a major loss in court, putting up a further roadblock for the proposed housing, retail and hotel development.

In addition, the planned Museum House condominium tower was scrapped after intense public opposition.

Here are several of Newport Beach’s top stories of 2017, as selected by the Daily Pilot and listed with the most recent developments first:

City prevails in resident’s defamation case

A judge ruled that City Councilwoman Diane Dixon did not defame frequent city government critic Mike Glenn when she told him, during a council meeting in April, that he owed more than $600 in fees for public records.

Dixon made the assertion after Glenn spoke against the city-run Balboa Peninsula Trolley.

Glenn said he never specifically asked for hard copies of the records.

Glenn filed a defamation suit this summer in Orange County Superior Court’s small-claims division.

After a brief trial Dec. 19, Judge Thomas Delaney ruled in favor of the city, Dixon and Assistant City Clerk Jennifer Nelson.

Delaney said Glenn proved he didn’t owe the fees, but he also said Dixon’s statement was protected by legislative immunity. He added that Glenn didn’t show he had been damaged by the statement.

Councilman Peotter survives recall attempt

Critics of Councilman Scott Peotter did not submit enough valid petition signatures to trigger a special recall election, according to the Orange County registrar of voters office.

Proponents submitted 8,339 valid signatures but needed 8,445, representing 15% of the city’s registered voters.

Recall organizers filed 10,696 signatures on Oct. 27. The county threw out 2,357 as invalid, including 205 from signers who requested to have their petition endorsements revoked.

Recall proponents said they will seek a recount.

Banning Ranch legal battle comes to an end

A years-long legal battle over a 401-acre coastal swath known as Banning Ranch came to an end after the California Supreme Court ruled in March that the city of Newport Beach had failed to adequately review a residential, hotel and retail development proposed for part of the site, much of which has been fenced off and occupied by oil operations for decades.

The decision concluded a nearly five-year lawsuit by the Banning Ranch Conservancy — which has advocated for the area to remain open space — against the city and developer Newport Banning Ranch LLC.

In November, the City Council repealed its previous approvals of the development in light of the high court’s ruling. And this month, also in response to the court decision, the developer sought to drop its lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission for denying the project.

St. James the Great church sale canceled

A second attempted sale of the shuttered St. James the Great Episcopal Church fell through in October, and the Newport Beach sanctuary eventually will be reopened to worshippers.

Bishop J. Jon Bruno of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles first tried to sell the church property to developers in 2015, locked out the congregation and kept the church closed even after the sale collapsed. He again tried to sell the church this year, but the buyers withdrew.

In March, a church panel conducted a three-day hearing similar to a trial in which Bruno answered allegations of misconduct related to his 2015 sale attempt. It resulted in Bruno being sanctioned by the Episcopal Church. He has since retired.

The diocese has not yet announced a reopening date.

City takes over mooring administration

The city brought mooring administration in-house in July.

A mix of city staff and private contractors now manages temporary mooring rentals, permit transfers, verification of boat owners’ maintenance and insurance obligations and emergency towing. Civilians also enforce city harbor code, which includes live-aboard regulations, time limits at piers and sea lion deterrence.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Harbor Patrol previously handled those tasks.

City leaders said the switch was intended to enhance customer service.

Small plane crashes onto 405 Freeway next to JWA

A twin-engine Cessna 310 crashed onto the southbound 405 Freeway and caught fire outside John Wayne Airport in June.

Francis and Janan Pisano, residents of Coto de Caza, were aboard the plane and survived the crash, which occurred after one of the engines malfunctioned.

The southbound side of the freeway was closed at MacArthur Boulevard for hours after the crash.

Balboa Peninsula Trolley rolls

The seasonal Balboa Peninsula Trolley made its debut this summer, carrying riders up and down Newport and Balboa boulevards in the city’s tourism center on weekends from June 17 to Sept. 3, plus the Fourth of July and Labor Day.

The free shuttle had 23,560 boardings, or about 900 per day, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority, which last year awarded Newport Beach a $685,454 grant to help operate the shuttle.

John Wayne honored with park name

Late film legend and Newport Beach resident John Wayne received another honor from his adopted hometown in May: his name on a city park.

The City Council agreed to rename Ensign View Park at Cliff Drive and El Modena Avenue after some debate about procedure, bypassing the Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission and waiving a city policy that discouraged naming parks after people because there are more locals considered worthy than parks to honor them.

In August, the parks commission, citing the policy, denied a request to rename a park on Balboa Island after late island resident and longtime civic leader Ralph Rodheim, who died in February. A week after the denial, the City Council updated the policy to allow parks to be named after people who have been dead at least 15 years. Wayne died in 1979.

Museum House approval rescinded

The City Council voted in February to rescind its earlier approval of Museum House, a hotly contested 25-story condominium tower proposed for Newport Center.

In January, local activists learned they had gathered enough petition signatures to send the project’s fate to Newport Beach voters. The council opted to revoke the approval rather than schedule the special referendum.

The condos were slated to replace the Orange County Museum of Art at 850 San Clemente Drive. The museum wanted to sell its property and build a new museum in Costa Mesa.

Staff writer Hannah Fry contributed to this report.

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