NEWPORT BEACH : Planning Board’s Hoag Vote Expected

After hearing four nights of public testimony, the Planning Commission is likely to vote tonight on the controversial proposed master plan for Hoag Hospital.

Commissioners are expected to take a straw vote to determine their views on specific parts of the plan in which there are differences between city staff recommendations and Hoag’s proposal. They probably will take a formal vote as well.

The proposal is an outline for development at the hospital over the next 20 years. It calls for a new row of buildings along West Coast Highway and redevelopment of existing structures near the hospital’s tower.

It will go before the City Council for public hearing about one month after the commission’s formal vote.

Some main areas of disagreement between Hoag and city staff recommendations are the heights of the buildings and how far back they will be placed from Coast Highway near the existing Cancer Center. Hoag wants taller buildings and shorter distances from the road than the city planning staff recommends.

Also at issue are noise levels and delivery schedules along the hospital’s western service road. City staff recommends further noise studies and regulated daytime delivery hours (such as between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.). Hoag officials are opposed on both points.

Further, the hospital and city staff are at odds over the how far the buildings should be set back on Hoag’s eastern boundary along Newport Boulevard, with the city staff asking for a bigger distance between the road and the new buildings than the hospital wants.

Another point of contention is the length of the development agreement, which is not a required document but which sets out terms of the hospital’s rights to build once the master plan is approved. The hospital wants a 35-year agreement, five years less than its original proposal for a 40-year agreement; the city staff is recommending a 25-year agreement.

If these core issues are resolved, commissioners still need to consider the comments made during hours of public testimony dating back to December from more than 100 residents opposing and supporting the plan.