NEWPORT BEACH : Council to Take Up Encroachment Issue

City officials are expecting a large crowd tonight when the City Council takes up the issue of beachfront property owners who have built small patios or walls that extend onto public property.

Tonight’s public hearing on the so-called encroachment issue will be the first since a citizens’ committee presented its recommendations to the council in April. It also represents one of the last opportunities for public input into a land-use amendment on easement infringements, which has been on the city agenda for several years.

Out of the 600 houses between the Santa Ana River and the tip of the Balboa Peninsula, there are 295 where decks or landscaping extend beyond property lines onto a public easement, according to city records. Some walls stretch up to 27 feet beyond property lines.

The council will be considering not only the conclusions of the citizens’ committee--which recommended that the local coastal plan allow encroachments of up to 15 feet for a yearly fee--but also a second recommendation developed in early August by the Planning Commission. The commission has called for a limit on encroachments of 10 feet, with a phase-out period of three years.

The City Council may also disregard both options and send the issue back to the Planning Commission for further consideration.

Whatever action is taken by the council will have to be approved by the California Coastal Commission. In July, the Coastal Commission said in a letter to the city staff that its main objective was to improve the public’s access to the beach. One possibility for such improvement would be extension of the beachfront sidewalk, which now runs between the Balboa Pier and 36th Street.

Many residents have expressed dismay at previous public hearings on a sidewalk extension, arguing that the boardwalk is both noisy and a safety hazard.

The issue has become a political hot potato for council members, four of whom face reelection in the Nov. 6 election. At a recent candidates’ forum, all four declined to discuss the encroachment limitations, arguing that it is inappropriate for council members to take a position on an issue before it comes up for city review.