Sweeping Makeover Proposed for Balboa Peninsula

The Balboa Peninsula is having an identity crisis.

It has beaches--miles of sand, in fact. But no one describes it as a beach community. There are some boutiques, but it’s hardly a shopping mecca like tony Fashion Island.

Instead, Balboa Peninsula is a hodgepodge of picturesque beachfront homes and apartments commonly rented out for weeklong beer bashes, nautically themed tourist shops and posh boutiques lacking for crowds. It’s an area that has spent years earning its dubious distinction as the place to party.

And now city officials say it’s time for something new.

Newport Beach Councilman John Hedges, who represents the area, said previous efforts to clean up the peninsula attacked problems piecemeal and rarely resulted in lasting change. As he bluntly put it: “It was like putting lipstick on a pig.”

This time city officials promise to take a comprehensive approach to cleaning up the famous drinking spot that accounts for more than half of the city’s alcohol-related arrests.

And it’s not just the bars that are bothering some people. Residents and business owners complain that the preponderance of T-shirt shops and fast-food joints have contributed to the general decline of the Balboa Peninsula.

As the city embarks on the most ambitious revitalization project in its history--the remaking of the Balboa Peninsula--city officials and many residents agree that even though it will take years and millions of dollars, they can no longer afford to ignore the downward spiral of the oldest portion of Newport Beach.

“For a long time now, the Balboa Peninsula has been tired,” said City Manager Kevin Murphy. “Something has to be done now.”

Drawn up mostly by citizens over the last 18 months, the proposal promising sweeping changes comes before the Newport Beach City Council for debate tonight.

Among the ideas:

* Creating visitors’ moorings in Newport Harbor so yacht owners can dock their boats and then shop and eat on the peninsula.

* Cracking down on renting homes for a week or weekend--a popular practice that leads to parties that end only when the alcohol runs out.

* Using bed-and-breakfasts to attract out-of-towners.

* Shuttling visitors around on water and land trolleys.

* Adding a monument or fountain to make the entrance to the peninsula at Newport and Balboa boulevards more attractive and easier to navigate.

* Landscaping main streets with trees and plants and burying unsightly power lines.

* Expanding parking.

“I personally believe the city has to think big and think creatively,” said former mayor Clarence Turner. “They have to start taking some risks because things are not the same as they used to be 25 years ago.”

Then, people from all over the county would trek to the Balboa Peninsula for an evening out.

Today, despite the numerous restaurants and the area’s proximity to the beach, the number of visitors has dropped. And although the bars do plenty of business, the commercial areas continue to struggle.

“It definitely should be promoted more,” said Irma Wolfson, manager of the Lido Book Shoppe, one of the few stores that has weathered the recession.

Crowds can get heavy during the summer or when a popular movie is playing at the Lido Theater. But more often than not, it is quiet on the quaint brick-lined shopping street that boasts some of the town’s best views of Newport Harbor.

“I would like to see just one nice clothing store and maybe an art gallery or a coffee house,” said Balboa Village resident Ron Baers.

Balboa Village is just one example of how change has hit the peninsula hard. Once, the village boasted a small department store and an elegant movie theater that showed art films. Those spots have been replaced by several T-shirt shops and pizza parlors, making it a less attractive place for Baers and others to live.

“A lot of us would love to walk to the village, but there is no hardware store, no supermarket,” he said.

Not everyone, however, is happy with the revitalization plan. And no one is more concerned than the mobile home residents at Marina Park.

The mobile home park has been located on city-owned property since 1956 and its lease is up in the year 2000. The revitalization proposal calls for building a hotel or a sailing center on the site.

“It’s lovely here and I would hate to move,” said Ethel Williams, 70, a 38-year resident of the bay-front park.

Jean Van Ornum, who lives on beachfront property across the road from Marina Park, also opposes many parts of the plan because she likes the peninsula the way it is.

“They are talking about building a big hotel but we certainly don’t need to build Miami Beach here,” said Van Ornum, 76.

The ambitious scope of the plan may also be its downfall, some say, because although the city has not put dollar amounts on any of the proposed changes, it is certain to carry a high price tag--one that the city may not be eager to pay.

“It is something we are not going to jump rashly into,” said Mayor Jan Debay. “It’s my hope that the better suggestions can be implemented, but we don’t have a lot of money to throw at it.”