Group calls off hotel lawsuit
Citing rising costs, a local political action committee has requested to end its lawsuit against the city, city council members and others regarding the Back Bay Landing project.
The group, Stop the Dunes Hotel, filed its suit March 14 in Orange County Superior Court, alleging that the environmental impact report was not thoroughly conducted, among other issues.
As a result of the lawsuit, Stop the Dunes Hotel had hoped the environmental impact report would be re-done to represent the project accurately, said Bert Ohlig, the group’s treasurer.
Rather than conceptual renderings, for example, the group believed the EIR should have included images depicting exactly how the development will look when built.
In addition, the group wanted a version of the project to be shown on the proposed lot, be it with story poles or otherwise. Although the developer had presented it to the public, the project had changed substantially since some had seen it, Ohlig argued, noting that he was not seeking personal financial gain in the matter but was acting out of a sense of obligation to the community.
“That’s our concern, you have to pass the project to find out what’s in it,” he said.
Still, costs for necessary documentation for the lawsuit to continue ran too high for the plaintiffs, he said, and so the lawsuit was dropped.
The development, proposed for a section of the Upper Newport Bay that neighbors the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort, was conceptually approved in February by the council to include commercial, residential and marine-related uses.
The specific project design will next appear before the Planning Commission, which can determine if additional environmental analysis is required.
“The city has always contended that its approval of the Back Bay Landing project complied with the California Environmental Quality Act and we are pleased that this case was resolved in the city’s favor so quickly,” City Atty. Aaron Harp wrote in an email.
Stop the Dunes Hotel was represented by local lawyer Robert Hawkins, who did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.