New Eatery Is Approved Over Neighbors’ Protests

CORONA DEL MAR —  The chef at JW’s restaurant in the Anaheim Marriott will be hitting the Bricks soon, on the heels of Newport Beach Planning Commission approval last week to open his own restaurant, Bricks, in a vacant bank building in Corona del Mar.

Some residents of Larkspur Avenue, the street on one side of the triangular building at 3140 E. Coast Highway, opposed the plan because of tight parking in the area.

Residents complained that patrons of a nearby tavern, the Quiet Woman, already park near their homes and disturb the neighborhood late at night.

“The parking is a nightmare to start with, but the noise is the real problem,” Larkspur resident Bing Starr told the panel.

But the commission voted 4 to 1 to waive some parking requirements and let chef John McLaughlin proceed. Commission chairwoman Norma Glover, who missed part of the discussion, abstained, and Commissioner Gary Di Sano was absent.

In an effort to satisfy opponents, the commission agreed to allow the restaurant to operate as long as McLaughlin buys annual parking permits for employees to park in a nearby city lot and provides valet parking for the dozen on-site spaces.

The restaurant is expected to be open from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, with an extra hour for dinner Fridays and Saturdays.