Mixed-use project gets green light from Newport Beach City Council, months after Planning Commission decision

After months of delay, the mixed-use 2510 W. Coast Highway project got the go-ahead from the Newport Beach City Council late last month, much to the chagrin of residents opposed to the development.

Members of the council unanimously voted to uphold the Planning Commission decision to approve the project in February, with council members Noah Blom and Duffy Duffield recusing themselves from the vote and discussion. In March, the project was pulled for review by City Council by Mayor Brad Avery, who did so on behalf of residents that objected to the decision.

The project was, at the time of its February approval, proposed to replace an existing marine facility at 2510 and 2530 W. Coast Highway with a mixed-use development that would include both residential units and a boutique auto showroom.

The project has since seen significant revision since.

In a report prepared by city staff, the project’s boutique auto showroom was scaled down from 11,266-square-feet to a 5,096-square-feet office space instead. Additionally, the buildings had originally been proposed to be connected by a bridge between the residential and commercial sides to the roof deck. It will now be a single structure interconnected by a hallway along the highway.

An additional unit was also added to the residential building, bringing the total number of potential residences to 36 with three of those units still designated as affordable.

Its exterior architecture was also updated and includes a 20-foot dedication along its Avon Avenue frontage to accommodate for the widening of that street in the future. City staff said it is currently compliant with all applicable standards of the zoning code.

This is the first mixed-use development to come to the area since the city’s last general plan update in 2006.

Residents requested additional delay of the project, arguing that the project did not comply with the overall vision for Mariners Mile — a 1.3 mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway that they said they felt should be “visitor-facing” and have “village-like” qualities. The height of the development has also been a source of ongoing concerns from members of the public who say that views from John Wayne Park would be impeded.

Councilwoman Joy Brenner floated the idea of developing a master plan for development in Mariners Mile — an idea attempted by a previous city council in 2011 that was ultimately shut down in response to significant objections by residents.

Brenner also raised concerns about approving projects — both the 2510 W. Coast Highway project and future projects — “piece-meal” ahead of finalization of the circulation element to be folded into the upcoming general plan update. Councilwoman Diane Dixon said she’d like to see public works and traffic staff take a look at the traffic in the area separate from the project in the future.

Councilman Will O’Neill criticized the Housing Accountability Act in his comments, saying the state’s requirements for Newport Beach to zone for at least 4,834 housing units over the next decade will mean that more hearings for projects like the 2510 W. Coast Highway Project will take place as the city seeks to allow for the mandated additional housing units.

“Welcome to our world, today,” said Dixon. “The state has new laws. The state has new mandates. We, at the local level, are seeing our authority and powers stripped away as we all know, but the people did approve the general plan in 2006 ... the local coastal plan, the zoning code — all this is in compliance.

“So, the state has tied the council’s hands — our hands — to say what we can approve or not and density, intensity is changing — pending right now in Sacramento,” Dixon continued.

“Our laws and our lives and our communities are dramatically changing because Sacramento is telling cities that ‘You cannot do that anymore. You have to build denser housing units and give bonuses for more affordability’ and we all know that story on affordable housing. So, welcome to the world of California in 2021,” said Dixon. “It’s frightening.”

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