Balboa Inn gets OK to expand

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- Some described it as a cornerstone to Balboa

Peninsula’s revitalization. Others vehemently opposed expansion plans for

the Balboa Inn, saying the enlarged hotel would block views and add to

congestion around Main Street.

But when the project’s fate was addressed at Tuesday’s City Council

meeting, council members sided with the peninsula’s community leaders and

unanimously voted to approve the hotel’s revamp.

Along with a new building for 11 new guest suites, the project also

includes a guest spa and about 2,000 square feet for shops.

Before approving the project, Councilman John Heffernan said he wanted

to ensure the hotel’s owners would pay about $50,000 in outstanding taxes

as soon as possible.

“That tax is old, and it’s overdue, and it should be paid now,”

Heffernan said.

Council members agreed to require the owners to pay taxes 30 days

after the California Coastal Commission gives its approval to the

expansion.

Planning commissioners had signed off on the expansion Dec. 7, but

James W. Read, a nearby property owner, filed an appeal with the City

Council to review the decision.

While the city’s new Greenlight law -- which requires citywide

elections on certain general plan amendments -- did not apply in this

case, Read told council members that, together with the renovation of the

Balboa Theater and changes to the municipal parking lot, the inn’s

expansion should be denied on the basis of Greenlight’s philosophy.

“I feel that this project . . . should be considered in a cumulative

effect,” Read said.

But other residents and leaders of the peninsula’s revitalization

plans said the hotel owner’s plans to improve the inn could help the area

to rise from its steady decline.

“In principle, we are very much opposed to new buildings,” said Tod

White, the president of the Balboa Peninsula Point Home Owners Assn. “But

in this case, our board voted to support the project.”

White encouraged council members to support private efforts to shape

up the peninsula’s downtown area, adding that this would go along with

the city’s plans to invest $7.5 million to fix up streets and create a

more pedestrian-oriented environment.

Others speaking in favor of the plans included Michele Roberge, the

executive director of the Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation,

community activist Gay Wassall-Kelly and Bob Black, who owns the Balboa

Pavilion.

“It’s a marvelous idea,” said Dona Colombero, who lives two blocks

from the inn.

Councilman Steve Bromberg recused himself from the discussion because

of a possible conflict of interest.