Seawalls Get Council Approval : Guidelines: Newport Beach comes up with new rules on encroachment by beachfront homeowners into public beach.

NEWPORT BEACH —  Ending one of the most contentious issues to erupt in this coastal city, the City Council on Monday night voted unanimously to allow some beachfront residents to keep seawalls, small patios and sun decks that extend onto the public beach.

The new policy, hammered out after more than six public hearings over the span of a year, will limit homeowners in the West Newport area to extensions of 15 feet beyond their property lines, while denying encroachments to homeowners on Peninsula Point. Homeowners in a third area, the four blocks east of Balboa Pier, will be allowed 7 1/2 feet of patio or fence encroachments.

The policy, which must be approved by the California Coastal Commission, also establishes guidelines governing the use of the encroachment area and requires homeowners to pay $600 a year in permit fees, or $300 if they live in the four blocks east of Balboa Pier. Homeowners have a year to comply with the new regulations.

“This is one of the toughest issues that the council could have to address, because there is no one right answer,” said Councilman John Cox. “The people who care and care deeply have really studied this issue and have made their recommendation.”

The new policy is the result of more than a year of study by the city staff, the Planning Commission and the Newport Beach Ocean Front Encroachment Committee, a citizens’ task force. In granting West Newport homeowners the extensions, the council upheld the findings of the committee, which had requested that 15-foot encroachments be allowed.

At Monday night’s meeting, a representative of the Peninsula Point Homeowners Assn. said that residents in his area would voluntarily remove their encroachments in order to facilitate the new city policy.

The encroachments run along a 30-foot-wide easement that was dedicated by area developers to the city for a beach road that was never been built. There are just under 300 homes between the Santa Ana River channel and the tip of the Balboa Peninsula that encroach onto the beach, some by as much as 27 feet.

For years, infringements onto the right of way were unchecked by city officials, since there was no regulation governing the property extensions.

Monday night’s meeting was attended by more than 125 people, many who came to testify about the extension of a pedestrian-bike path along the beach to the west and east of the current oceanfront sidewalk.

The California Coastal Commission, which must approve any land-use changes along the beach, has said that any policy that allows encroachment should include mitigation measures that will extend the pedestrian-bike path from 36th Street to the Santa Ana jetty and from Balboa Pier to the Wedge.

Many residents speaking at Monday night’s public hearing opposed the extension of the walkway. “I really don’t want to look at the concrete beach,” said Suzanne Warner, a resident of Seashore Drive.

The issue of beachfront encroachments was first brought to the attention of the City Council nearly two years ago by the California Coastal Commission. The council appointed a citizens’ committee to come up with a policy, which was then reviewed by the city Planning Commission. In August, planning commissioners voted to allow a 10-foot encroachment and conduct an in-depth study on ways to improve public access to the beach.

Among the arguments that the property owners and others have stated in favor of maintaining some encroachment is that the landscaping, trees and decorative walls improve the look of the beachfront. Others say that landscaping and walls protect their homes from drifting sand, as well as from the public.

Opponents of the encroachment have maintained that the public right of way should be protected. They also argue that the property owners should have to pay for the use of the land, since it represents among the most valuable real estate in the county.