NEWPORT BEACH : City Planners to Vote on 500-Home Project

A proposal for 500 homes to be built on the former Loral Aeroneutronics-Ford Aerospace property goes before the city’s Planning Commission this week.

The community would have five or six homes per acre on a 98-acre site. The property, at MacArthur Boulevard and Bison Avenue, is virtually surrounded by the Belcourt luxury home community. Bill McNair, vice president of Ford Motor Land Development Corp., has said that the new homes would be compatible with the style of Belcourt.

Ford planners also designed the new development so that roof lines would be below the horizon from existing homes to the south to avoid blocking views. New homes would be restricted to 28 feet in height, compared to the 37-foot height limit at Belcourt.

Some residents of nearby Eastbluff have complained that the project would cause traffic congestion in their neighborhood, both during construction and after completion.

If the Planning Commission approves the development at its meeting Thursday, site preparation could be finished by year’s end, and groundbreaking could come as early as next May. The homes would be completed by 2000, Ford project director Tim Ridner said.