Balboa Peninsula Trolley might change next season; City Council will hear ideas Tuesday

Newport Beach is preparing for the second year of the Balboa Peninsula Trolley.

During a City Council study session Tuesday, city staff will summarize last year’s trolley performance and offer ideas for the second season of the shuttle, which carried passengers through the popular peninsula tourist area during the peak summer season.

Last fall, staff members floated possibilities including shortening daily hours but expanding the season to run from Memorial Day to Labor Day and adding Friday service and an extra vehicle for the busiest times.

In its inaugural year, the free shuttle ran Saturdays and Sundays over 12 weeks from June 17 to Sept. 3, plus the Fourth of July and Labor Day. It had 23,560 boardings, or about 900 per day, according to ridership figures compiled by the shuttle’s contracted operator, Signal Hill-based Professional Parking Corp. The route looped between Hoag Hospital and the Balboa Pier.

The shuttle is funded mostly through Measure M, Orange County’s half-cent sales tax for transportation projects, by way of a grant to be distributed over seven years by the Orange County Transportation Authority. Visitor-generated Balboa Village parking revenue also helps finance the project.

Members of the city’s Balboa Village Advisory Committee have suggested using grant funds the city already has from the South Coast Air Quality Management District for emissions-reduction projects to cover the costs of extending the service. The AQMD account has about $300,000.

Lido Marina Village parking

Later in Tuesday’s meeting, the council will take up an appeal of a Planning Commission adjustment of the Lido Marina Village shopping center’s parking management plan. The council had been set to consider the appeal at its Jan. 9 meeting but postponed it after severe weather in Northern California prevented a Lido Marina Village management representative from making the trip to Newport.

Electra Cruises, a yacht charter company and center tenant, is seeking the council’s input after many shopping center employees started parking in Lido Marina Village’s onsite parking garage, allegedly crowding out Electra customers.

Last fall, the Planning Commission updated the center’s city permit to allow employees of its roughly 30 businesses to park for free in the garage.

Previously, workers chose between two options: pay $85 a month to park at a medical office building about a mile and a half away and take a shuttle or seek free parking in the residential neighborhood across the street from the recently refurbished center. Many took their chances on the latter.

Electra representatives say Lido Marina Village management failed to honor a private parking agreement and misled the city by not sharing the scope of the center’s parking situation.

Tuesday’s meeting starts at 5 p.m. with the study session, followed by the regular session at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 100 Civic Center Drive.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD