Balboa Marina West restaurant plan goes before Newport Planning Commission

A waterfront restaurant proposed as part of the Balboa Marina West project at the former site of a floating nautical museum is heading to the Newport Beach Planning Commission on Thursday.

The Irvine Co., which owns the 3.5 acres on East Coast Highway between Bayside Drive and the Coast Highway bridge, proposes to build eight new public boat slips, reconfigure the private Balboa Marina and add 24 new boat slips, and build a 14,252-square-foot restaurant.

The Balboa Marina West project would require the demolition of a parking lot and a 1,200-square-foot yacht brokerage at 201 E. Coast Hwy., according to a city staff report.

The Planning Commission in 2014 unanimously approved an environmental review for the project. However, the design of the restaurant was not finalized at the time. The restaurant portion of the project will be up for Planning Commission approval Thursday.

If it is approved and is not appealed, the entire project will head to the California Coastal Commission.

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. If approved, the restaurant would be open from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily with full alcoholic beverage service and live entertainment.

The area just west of the Balboa Marina was once home to the Reuben E. Lee, a riverboat that housed a restaurant and then a nautical museum before it was dismantled in 2008. The Irvine Co. has been working to expand the marina ever since.

The Planning Commission meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Newport Beach City Hall, 100 Civic Center Drive.