Committees to Study Land Use in 2 Areas

The City Council this week created advisory committees to study economic development in the area surrounding John Wayne Airport and along Mariners Mile on West Coast Highway.

The two panels, council members said, will look closely at land-use patterns in those areas to maximize their revenue-generating efficiency and potential.

Council members passed an accompanying emergency ordinance for Mariners Mile, which extends from Newport Boulevard to Dover Drive, prohibiting high-traffic businesses such as fast-food outlets until the city-appointed group can identify the best use for that land.

Only one person, a businessman, spoke against the regulation, saying that placing restrictions on properties along the commercial strip may dissuade other companies from coming into the area.

The ordinance conditions, however, end in 45 days--a sufficient amount of time, council members said, to study the situation.

Mariners Mile is one of the city’s most important commercial districts because it carries a high volume of regional traffic and is the area from which many people from outside the city form their image of Newport Beach, city planners said.

The panel examining that area will consider how to reduce traffic congestion without stifling the strip’s high revenue production.

For the airport area, bounded by MacArthur Boulevard, Campus Drive, Birch Street and Bristol Street North, a five-member advisory committee will review whether the city’s incentives and other zoning regulations discourage economic development, planners said. A recent report found that it generates substantially less revenue than adjacent areas.