NEWPORT BEACH : Council to Consider 2 Restaurant Plans

The Planning Commission is to hear from the public tonight about plans to permit a fast-food restaurant and a private supper club at separate sites on West Coast Highway.

Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. has asked for permission to raze a vacant restaurant building at 1400 W. Coast Highway and put in a 24-hour eatery with drive-through, indoor and patio dining facilities.

The building, directly across the street from the Balboa Bay Club, was built in 1966 and has housed the Grinder, Guido’s and Melee’s restaurants.

Senior planner Javier Garcia has recommended that the controversial project be allowed to proceed, but only if hours of operation are limited to opening at 6 a.m. and closing at 1 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays and at 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

If approved, the permit would also allow 10 fewer parking spaces than required under city codes and two lighted pole signs instead of the one normally allowed for such businesses.

Many residents of Kings Road, which overlooks the site, have opposed the Taco Bell since it was proposed early last year. Complaints center on anticipated increases in noise, traffic and glare from signs.

Also scheduled for a public hearing is a permit for a supper club called Tiffany’s II at the five-story Harbor Tower and Marina at 3333 W. Coast Highway, with a valet parking lot at 206 Riverside Ave.

The building, next to Newport Boulevard where it crosses over Coast Highway, was built in 1967.

The applicant, Edward Martinez St. Clair, requested a permit to operate the club from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekends, with recorded dance music after 8 p.m. nightly.