Newport Beach considers covering the cost of possible OCTA bus hub relocation
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The Newport Beach Police Department’s headquarters isn’t the only public safety facility that may eventually move from its current digs off of Santa Barbara Drive.
City officials have eyed a relocation of Fire Station No. 3, which currently resides next to the police headquarters, to an Orange County Transportation Authority bus hub on Avocado Avenue near Fashion Island.
A study commissioned by Newport Beach and OCTA on the feasibility of relocating the bus hub known as the Newport Transportation Center is ongoing and expected to wrap in the coming months.
Ahead of that, Newport Beach City Council approved a non-binding term sheet with OCTA on July 28 that would otherwise guide negotiations with OCTA for future agreements.
“The term sheet just discusses that the OCTA will commit to moving the transit facility by the end of 2031,” City Manager Seimone Jurjis said. “They will evaluate other sites outside of Newport Beach. In return, the city is committing to pay for that relocation of the transit center.”
Councilmembers ordered an environmental study and architectural design of a new police headquarters atop the grounds of Civic Center Park, which angered opponents who want to preserve the green space.
As with contracts approved during that same council meeting related to exploring the Civic Center Park as a possible site for a new police headquarters, Councilmember Robyn Grant felt the fire station relocation term sheet premature.
“The agreement contemplates that Newport Beach will pay the cost of the relocation,” she said. “That’s the intent, but prudence really dictates that we know the total cost and establish a funding plan before we move forward. Even with something non-binding, it’s just not necessary at this juncture to push ahead with concepts that aren’t necessarily going to fit in the role of what we’re looking to do here.”
A draft of the term sheet did not provide an estimate for how much it would cost the city to relocate and replace the Newport Transportation Center. The city and OCTA could apply for state and federal funds, but a project cost range would come from future study.
Grant added that work on the current feasibility study would be completed in November and city officials should wait to forge any possible binding agreements based on its findings.
A number of residents took the occasion of the term sheet vote to criticize the idea of relocating the fire station to the bus hub.
Walter Stahr, a candidate running to represent District 3 on the City Council, argued that the move would hamper response times for East Bluff residents, citing a city-commissioned study from four years ago.
“The consultants did not recommend moving Fire Station No. 3 to the OCTA site,” he said. “This is because moving Fire Station No. 3 to where the OCTA is today slightly improves matters in the Port streets, but it worsens matters in East Bluff.”
Ron Rubino, representing the East Bluff Homeowners Assn., echoed the sentiment.
“We don’t feel there’s been adequate discussion with us on the impact if this transaction with OCTA took place,” he said. “I don’t think we should be reduced in service so that the Port streets or Newport Center could be improved.”
After the council meeting, the Newport Beach Firefighters Assn. came out publicly in support of relocating Fire Station No. 3 to the bus hub.
“We are on the front lines every day, and we know what it takes to protect this community,” union president Robert Salerno said in a news statement issued Monday. “Relocating Station 3 less than a mile to the southeast will measurably improve emergency response across Newport Beach, and we support it without reservation.”
The union also published a website and released an analysis supporting the move. The analysis, which is from the union and not the fire department, claimed that response times for East Bluff would increase by more than a minute, but would remain under the 4-minute national standard.
Decreased fire department response times are cited in Newport Beach’s desire to move a fire station over to replace a busy Orange County Transportation Authority bus hub at Fashion Island.
Last summer, the council voted to send OCTA a letter in support of moving the fire station to the bus hub.
Councilmember Noah Blom reminded colleagues of their past support of exploring relocation during the July 28 discussion on moving the term sheet forward.
“We’re always going to put public safety first,” he said.
“When we discuss some of these contracts and some of these pieces, it’s because we truly want to benefit the city, for the families we all have here, for the children we’re all raising here,” Blom added.
Following his comments, councilmembers voted unanimously to approve the term sheet.
