NEWPORT BEACH : Law Aimed at Cleanup of Piers Wins Backing

The City Council unanimously supported a change in the law that will let the city manager limit pier fishing and close Newport and Balboa piers periodically to discourage littering and improve appearances.

Public support for the plan, designed to eliminate the litter from bait, fish and food wrappers, also was strong.

City officials have traced the debris to anglers and transients.

“The Central Newport Beach Assn. has been in favor of doing something about the foul conditions on Newport Pier, and sometimes Balboa Pier,” said association president Thomas Hyans.

“We have enough scofflaws now,” he said. “We have an 8 m.p.h. speed limit on the (beachfront) walk that no one ever pays any attention to. We have signs at McFadden Square saying, ‘Walk your bicycles and roller-blades.’ No one pays attention.”

Rush Hill, president of the city’s Economic Development Committee and vice-chairman of the Newport Pier Assn., urged the council to approve the change to help business owners.

“We still live, at Newport Pier, with the very fundamental problems of cleanliness and safety,” he said.

The piers are closed from 6 to 8 a.m. daily for cleaning, with little apparent resistance from the fishing crowd or anyone else, City Manager Kevin J. Murphy said.

Merchants and residents have told city officials studying the situation that visitors and residents shy away from the piers because of their unseemly appearance. Merchants also believe the pier conditions are sending tourists elsewhere to spend their money.

The council, with Mayor John W. Hedges absent, voted 6 to 0 for the change in the law.