NEWPORT BEACH : Council Approves Youth Hostel Plan

Overriding the Planning Commission, the City Council has approved the plans of two young Australian entrepreneurs to open an international youth hostel in the Cannery Village area.

The council voted 4 to 2 Monday night to allow Andrew Grace and Philip Boston to renovate an empty, two-story office building at 430 32nd St. They will turn it into a 40-bed, $15-per-night hostel.

The Planning Commission had turned down the hostel proposal last month on grounds of inadequate parking and bathroom facilities.

Since that denial, the hostel investors have arranged to lease a lot at 424 32nd St. for additional parking.

“This is something that ought to be given a chance to work,” said Councilman John C. Cox Jr., who mentioned that his daughter had stayed at youth hostels in Europe. “There never will be a perfect place for it. It’s always, ‘Not in my back yard.’ ”

The investors say the hostel will give the local economy a boost.

Bob Dakota, a Newport Beach resident who is helping market the project to international travelers, said visitors spend less money on accommodations but spend more time enjoying the local attractions.

Owners of adjacent properties petitioned the council Monday not to approve the project. They said they don’t want groups of rowdy young people hanging about and frequenting local bars.

“There is all kinds of destructive activity associated with those bars,” said Roy Jackson, who owns several nearby office buildings. “We already can’t get police down here to do enforcement and they’re adding another item that will need enforcement.”

Council members Jean H. Watt and Phil Sansone voted against the proposal, and Councilman John W. Hedges was absent. Watt argued that the plan to house 40 people with only three toilets and half a dozen showers was “too much for the spot.”

Grace told the council that hostels usually attract college-educated people aged 22 to 35 who want to meet people of other cultures and are not partying people looking for a cheap hotel.

Danish traveler Caren Jacobsen told the council Monday night, “I didn’t come 12,000 kilometers to go to a nightclub.”

Dakota said he expects the hostel to be ready for visitors by late August. The nearest international youth hostel is in Huntington Beach. The Newport Beach hostel will be connected by shuttle to dozens of hostels along the California coast.