Marinapark public forums could be next step

June Casagrande

BALBOA PENINSULA -- Public opinion almost killed his project on

Tuesday. So it is through public opinion that Stephen Sutherland hopes to

advance his plan to build a 147-room luxury resort on the peninsula.

After an up swell of public outrage cost Sutherland the vote of three

City Council members -- at least one of whom passionately supported the

resort -- the developer may take his plans directly to residents.

Sutherland hopes to hold small neighborhood forums to show residents,

perhaps over a cup of tea, why he believes his development will be a boon

instead of a bummer for peninsula residents.

“In my experience, the more people learn about this project, the more

they support it,” Sutherland said.

Though the meetings are still in the idea stage, he said he plans to

enlist the help of some residents who support the project to help

organize others.

“The fact that even the council members who voted against me were so

full of praise for the project, that makes me more confident than ever

that this can happen,” he added.

A routine request to begin traffic and other studies on the proposed

development drew enough heated objections that Mayor Tod Ridgeway voted

to deny the request, even though he avidly supports the project.

“I support the project and think it would be a great benefit to the

community,” Ridgeway said Thursday. “But because my constituents were

there en masse, I had told them I would vote for my constituents instead

of my conscience. Sutherland needs to bring in my constituents to get my

vote back.”

The council narrowly approved the request on a 4-to-3 vote.

Ridgeway, whose district includes the peninsula, wasn’t the only

council member conflicted over the vote. Councilman Gary Adams seriously

considered withdrawing his support before ultimately deciding to support

Sutherland’s request.

“People have a legitimate concern about traffic, but I think it’s

irresponsible to oppose everything with the knee-jerk assumption it’s

going to start a traffic problem,” Adams said.

He pointed to the Bel-Air Hotel in Beverly Hills as an example of how

a high-end destination can be an improvement to a residential area that

doesn’t significantly increase peak-hour traffic.

“If we froze Newport Beach the way it is today, and not one board on

one building changed for the next 100 years, this place would be a dump,”

he said. “You can’t preserve something forever. What you do is you manage

change in a responsible way.”

Sutherland hopes to capitalize on support like this to ultimately

build the five-star Regent resort. Originally planned on the site of the

American Legion post, Sutherland last month decided to leave the hall

untouched and instead put the resort on the site of the Marinapark Mobile

Home Park. The leases of the residents in that park state that their

ability to stay there is temporary, pending development on the city-owned

land.