NEWPORT BEACH : Balboa Bay Club Project Protested

Two homeowners groups are planning to protest the proposed $50-million expansion of the exclusive Balboa Bay Club at tonight’s City Council meeting.

Officials of the Bayshores and Cliff Haven community associations say the expansion project, which would include a 300-room hotel and a parking structure at the 14-acre site along West Coast Highway, would generate excessive noise and traffic and block their views of the ocean.

Al Beaudette, president of the 250-member Cliff Haven Community Assn., said the project would further increase traffic, which already backs up onto a side street that parallels West Coast Highway. “What you’re doing is turning Cliff Drive into a major thoroughfare,” he said.

Beaudette also said the height of the hotel, which would average 35 feet, would block ocean views of residents along Kings Road.

To the west of the club, residents of the Bayshores community are complaining that the 170,000-square-foot hotel would be just 40 feet from property lines and disturb the community’s sense of peace and security.

“We would like to see it pushed back from our property line or scaled down,” said Kevin Green, president of the 3250-member Bayshores Community Assn.

The city Planning Commission approved the project last month but added a stipulation requiring the club to keep all windows and doors facing the community sealed. But Green said the associations want further concessions.

Club officials have met with members of both associations to address concerns but maintain that views will not be blocked and that setbacks are sufficient to ensure privacy.

If the City Council approves the proposal tonight, it will move on to the state Coastal Commission for review.