EDITORIAL

Several years ago, residents on Lido Isle mounted a campaign to

redesign the community’s entrance to include a guardhouse, not an unusual

sight in Newport Beach or even Orange County.

The only catch: Those places that have them are private communities,

while Lido Isle, for all its wealth, is public.

To their credit, Newport Beach officials quickly recognized the

ramifications of this proposal and put an early end to it. It was

striking, therefore, that what amounted to a similar proposal ended up

before the California Coastal Commission this month.

But also to their credit, the coastal commissioners saw that the

proposed redesign to the island’s one entrance would give the appearance

that it was private. They unanimously turned down the plan, which called

for about $500,000 in changes, including installation of a traffic circle

and a new median.

Lido Community Assn. President Hugh Helm denied there was any attempt

to close the community off.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.

But even some of his neighbors doubted that, and a number of them

opposed the project, including Judy Rosener, who happens to be a former

coastal commissioner.

“It was to keep ‘other’ people off the island,” Rosener said.

Given the history, it is easy to see Rosener’s point and hard to

believe those pushing for the change didn’t at least foresee how it would

appear to outsiders.

Hopefully, Lido Isle leaders have learned their lesson this time. And

if they haven’t, there’s still a little more to the story. Following

their ruling, the coastal commissioners decided to investigate whether

signs posted on the island, which suggest it’s private, are illegal and

need to be removed.

Commissioners saw these signs in photos of the entryway, which opens

the door to a fitting irony: In an effort to seal off their community,

Lido Isle residents may lose their more oblique attempt at keeping the

community closed.