NEWPORT BEACH : Council Votes Down Auto-Racing Plan

The City Council has denied a permit for a car-racing event that would have featured drivers from the Indianapolis 500 at Newport Center in October, 1992.

“It is an inappropriate type of event for Newport Center,” said Councilwoman Ruthelyn Plummer, who joined five others on the City Council earlier this week to deny the permit. Councilman Clarence J. Turner abstained from the vote. “Not only that, it’s a very high-risk event,” she said.

The $2-million event would have featured a 1.3-mile course through Newport Center using American series race cars--seven-eighths of the size of those in the Indianapolis 500. Proceeds from the $100-a-ticket fund-raiser would have gone to Hoag Hospital, according to promoter Bill Strateman, president of InterSport, one of three firms that planned to sponsor the two-day event.

In addition to benefiting the hospital, the race also would have drawn national recognition to the city, which market-research analysts say is not well-known outside a 50-mile radius, Strateman said.

The national exposure could have resulted in an increase in tourists and a boon to the economy, he said. “It’s obvious to me that the recession has had its effect in this community that’s very much felt the positive effects of growth and development. . . . The idea was that this might help stimulate some sales and at the same time provide a sizable contribution for the local hospital.”

The sponsors chose Newport Center--home to the plush Four Seasons Hotel and upscale Fashion Island shopping center--because it is “the focal point of the city,” Strateman said. The location would have allowed event planners to avoid closing down thoroughfares while showcasing many of the city’s merchants and hotels, he added.

But Plummer and other city officials said the area could not weather the required two weeks of safety-barricade construction and an estimated crowd of 10,000 to 12,000.

After the promoter met with fire and police officials and other city staff members, it became apparent that more research was needed, said Glenn Everroad, the city’s licensing supervisor. “What he needed was some indication that if he spent $40,000 (on research), that it was something the City Council could support,” Everroad said.