A Master Plan for the Area’s Natural Assets

NEWPORT BEACH —  Coastal Orange County’s nature hike of the future could offer Pacific views, a second chance for endangered plants and creatures, and oil-stained fields transformed into clean, usable trails.

At sea level and various inclines, the rustic topography alongside the Santa Ana River varies the challenges to hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians. Frogs croak, birds of prey hover above, rabbits scurry from leashed dogs. Trained eyes can spot the sensitive vernal pools and salt marshes.

Now imagine this suburban respite running contiguously through Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach. This is what nature lovers dreaming up Orange Coast River Park want: seamless paths through nature in the central, coastal stretch of the county.

“You’d no sooner know where one city stops and the other begins,” said Justine Howard, a volunteer with Friends of Harbors, Beaches and Parks, a Newport Beach-based community group behind the proposal. “You won’t think while you’re hiking, ‘Oh, I am down in Costa Mesa.’ You can enjoy the park without worrying what jurisdiction you’re in.”

The group, which includes former Newport Beach City Councilwoman Jean Watt and other ex-officials, proposes patching together existing parks with undeveloped public and private land to create a 1,000-acre park that winds through three cities on municipal, county, state and private land.

It would include existing natural gems such as Fairview Regional Park in Costa Mesa, the county’s Talbert Nature Preserve and wetlands in Huntington Beach.

Designating the land under one master plan could increase the chances of getting federal and state grants to preserve sensitive areas, plant vegetation and improve trails.

“Let’s just put it together this way: There’s a lot of competition out there for grants,” Howard said. “Being bigger puts you in a much better position and makes it much easier to get funding. . . . We’re sort of joining hands, saying, ‘Together, we’re stronger.’ ”

Each entity--cities, the state and county--would retain local control.

“They’d still be in charge of the properties,” said Bob Fisher, head of the Friends group. “They would just have a coordinated master plan.” Joint efforts could streamline staffing, hours and maintenance.

Fisher, the former head of the county Department of Harbors, Beaches and Parks, said the challenge is to “convince the cities and the county that [by] working cooperatively in developing this concept, Orange Coast River Park, everybody wins.”

Though financial estimates are far from complete, this could be a $20-million project. Organizers anticipate that most of the money would come from private, federal and state sources.

The idea is winning some support.

“It makes sense to develop a master plan between all three cities and all parties concerned,” Newport Beach City Manager Kevin J. Murphy said. “The value of doing it all together is you plan how it will all be linked.”

Costa Mesa City Councilman Joe Erickson agreed. And he said, “I fully support the idea of making the open space that’s left here on the central coast area available as possible.”

Newport Beach and Huntington Beach each will contribute $5,000 toward a feasibility study, and the county will be asked to give $10,000.

The Costa Mesa City Council is expected to decide Monday whether to contribute $5,000.

Tom Redwitz of Taylor Woodrow Homes, which plans to build houses on a 400-acre oil field in west Newport Beach, said he might consider deeding some land to Orange Coast River Park.

“We’re going through our conceptual planning process,” he said. “It is possible that some of the land would be incorporated into areas of open space.”

This project could take 10 to 20 years. But the need won’t go away.

“An open space area is so needed in west Newport,” said Louise Greeley, who lives west of Superior Avenue. “There’s no open space from Newport Boulevard to the Santa Ana River. There’s absolutely no place for children to play.”

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Park Place

Officials in three cities are considering linking individual parks into one large unit to create Orange Coast River Park

Fast Facts

* About 1,000 acres of land would be involved

* Cities and the county would continue to manage the properties

* Most of the land would be restored to nature preserves and passive parkland

* Conventional urban parks also are planned

* Privately owned land would be donated

Source: Friends of Harbors, Beaches and Parks; Researched by JOHN CANALIS/For The Times