NEWPORT BEACH : City to Get Input on County Park Plans

The City Council on Monday will hear the county’s preliminary plans for Upper Newport Bay Regional Park.

For the last several months, the county’s Harbors, Beaches and Parks department has been holding public meetings on some of the design possibilities for the new 140-acre park off Irvine Avenue and University Drive.

Councilman Clarence Turner said in a letter to the city manager that three issues require discussion: the risk of brush fire in the park, land and trail use in the upper Newport Bay and the public right of way at Back Bay Drive.

Denton Turner, the county’s design manager, said three alternatives are being considered for Back Bay Drive, which follows the east side of the park from the Newport Dunes State Park to Eastbluff Drive.

One alternative is that the easement be left open to traffic as it is now. The second proposal is that the road be closed to automobile traffic on certain days of the week, or during certain hours of the day. The third option would be to prohibit all automobile traffic along the route, leaving it clear for bikers and other recreational users, Turner said.

Any change to the public right of way along Back Bay Drive will have to go through the city hearing process.

At last month’s public meeting on county plans for the park use, some residents along the bluffs to the east of the park asked that greater restrictions be placed on the drive. They said the roadway attracts rowdy youths during the night and is often used for four-wheel, off-road driving.