Council extends lease for Legion post

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- City Council members unanimously approved a one-year

extension to a lease agreement with American Legion Post 291 at their

meeting Tuesday.

City officials said the extension puts the Legion’s lease in sync with

the lease held by the nearby Marinapark mobile home park on the Balboa

Peninsula.

“We wanted to align everything there with what the mobile home park

has,” said Deputy City Manager Dave Kiff. He added that the extension

should have happened “months ago.”

The lease includes the Legion’s clubhouse and bar, shower and restroom

facilities, 34 boat lockers, 47 dry storage spaces, a 62-space parking

lot, 50 wet slips, a hoist dock and 43 racks for dinghy storage.

The Legion pays $300 monthly for rent and also hands over all parking

lot revenues, as well as 40% of marina slip rentals and 50% of dry

storage and locker rentals. Under those terms, the city receives about

$105,000 per year.

According to the lease, the post also must restrict use of the

premises to Legion purposes, not discriminate in its operations, allow

the city and community to use the facilities when legionnaires are not,

keep insurance levels at $200,000 to $500,000 for injury and $50,000 for

property damage, keep complete books, allow city inspection of records

and provide an annual audit to the city.

While the extension guarantees a home for the American Legion until

March 15, 2002, the post’s future remains uncertain.

In August, City Council members voted to enter exclusive negotiations

with a developer who plans to build a $30-million luxury hotel on the

city-owned site.

The project, submitted by Sutherland Talla Hospitality, would include

156 rooms in 18 Italian-style villas, as well as two vintage yachts with

luxury suites. A spa and tennis, sailing and rowing clubs are also

proposed, along with shops and restaurants.

The developer has offered to build a new facility for the American

Legion on a different part of the land, shoulder the costs and lease it

to legionnaires for a nominal fee.

But the post’s leaders have made it clear that they want to keep their

current meeting space, which was built in 1949.

Dennis Lahey, commander of Post 291 and a District 2 candidate for the

City Council, said Tuesday that the lease extension would give both sides

time to find a solution.

“It buys us a year to negotiate with the city,” Lahey said. “It makes

it easier for both the city and us to try and work out something.”

Kiff said it would take the city at least until 2002 to proceed with

the redevelopment of Marinapark.

The Girl Scout Council, the city’s third tenant at Marinapark, still

has a lease on the land for its Girl Scout House. It expires in 2001.

Diane Smith, a spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts, said Tuesday that no

discussions about an extension had taken place with city officials.

“We were thinking, ‘We’re the odd man out,’ ” Smith said, referring to

conversations she and her colleagues had after hearing about the Legion’s

proposed lease extension.

But Kiff said that extending the Girl Scouts’ lease was only a matter

of time.

“They would certainly get [an extension,]” he said. “That’s not a

problem.”