NEWPORT BEACH : Conflict on Gift Clouds Eatery Fate

A $398 contribution to Planning Commission Chairwoman Norma Glover’s City Council campaign may force Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. to reapply for permission to build a 24-hour eatery across West Coast Highway from the Balboa Bay Club.

Glover has denied allegations that she violated the Political Reform Act, saying the property changed hands before the contribution was made.

“I have not done anything illegal. I cannot be bought for $99 and I cannot be bought for $200. My opponent has absolutely no record to run on. He has nothing to offer so he has to tear me down,” she said.

Her attorney, Dana Reed, said the property changed hands June 30 and the contributions were not made until July 11.

Council candidate Art De La Loza brought campaign finance disclosures to Thursday’s meeting and mounted the attack on Glover, who was absent. He alleged she has a conflict of interest because she accepted $398 in contributions from Levon and Zarouhi Gugasian just months before Taco Bell applied to operate a restaurant at 1400 W. Coast Highway, on land owned by the Gugasians.

The Planning Commission has yet to vote on the issue, but it has held discussions and two public hearings about it. Glover has said she favors the project, as do several other panel members. A primary problem with the application has been Taco Bell’s insistence on 24-hour operation.

De La Loza, a deputy city attorney in Huntington Beach, is running against Glover for the District 3 council seat, from which Councilwoman Evelyn R. Hart is retiring.

He lives on Kings Place on the bluff above the proposed site and has objected, along with his neighbors, to the potential noise and crime problems an all-night restaurant could cause.

But Thursday he focused on Glover’s acceptance of the contribution, saying she has influenced the process in Taco Bell’s favor.

“This entire proceeding is tainted,” he said.

Since the first public hearing on the restaurant, the City National Bank has foreclosed on the property, but the Gugasians may try to maintain their interest in it, said Taco Bell real estate manager Skip Leonard.

Nonetheless, the five commissioners present postponed a vote until Nov. 10 to give City Atty. Robert Burnham time to research whether the potential conflict will send Taco Bell back to square one of the permit process or merely force Glover to abstain from voting on the permit application.