Newport Auto Center gets permits for cars and employees to park at Newport Dunes lots

Newport Auto Center now can officially use parking lots at the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort to park dealership cars and employee vehicles.

The Newport Beach Planning Commission approved permits last week for the resort to share parking spaces with the nearby Audi, Bentley and Porsche dealership at 445 E. Coast Hwy. The dealership had been leasing the spaces for years without city authorization.

Under the permits, Newport Auto Center can store up to 300 inventory cars at 101 Bayside Drive, northwest of the resort, and up to 75 dealership workers can park at 1131 Back Bay Drive, east of the Dunes lagoon and about a mile from the auto center. The employees take a shuttle to and from the dealership.

The Bayside lot has about 650 spaces and is otherwise used for resort overflow parking. The Back Bay lot, for Dunes day use, has 800 spaces.

During special events that fill the Dunes’ parking spaces, Newport Auto Center’s cars and employees will be relocated to a car lot in Irvine.

The permit for the inventory storage is for one year, with the option to extend it another year.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD