NEWPORT BEACH PLANNING COMMISSION THEATER EXPANSION The...

NEWPORT BEACH PLANNING COMMISSION THEATER EXPANSION

The commission unanimously approved a request by Mary Lonich,

executive director of the Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation,

to increase the height of the existing theater, at 707 E. Balboa

Blvd., to a maximum height of 55 feet. Commissioner Barry Eaton was

absent and Leslie Daigle’s seat has been vacated since she was

appointed to the City Council on Tuesday to fill Gary Adam’s seat.

The theater is a designated landmark. The proposed height increase

is part of a plan to restore the theater.

This application is limited to a review of the building height and

to make sure the project complies with the Balboa Village Design

Guidelines. The guidelines were adopted by the city in 2002 to set

the preferred design elements for the development and redevelopment

of buildings in the area.

WHAT IT MEANS

The project now goes to the City Council for consideration.

WHAT WAS SAID

“I think it’s a good project and will help the peninsula,”

commissioner Ed Selich said. “The city’s invested a lot of money to

upgrade central Balboa, and this will be another project, along with

the Balboa Inn expansion, to help rejuvenate the area.”

ST. MARK COMPLEX

The commission approved a slew of requests from St. Mark

Presbyterian Church, including a change in the general plan, a use

permit and a traffic study for the construction of a new church

complex at the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and San Joaquin Hills

Road.

The complex would house a sanctuary, fellowship hall,

administration building, counseling center, preschool buildings,

nature center plaza and another building for future expansion.

The project requires a general plan amendment to change the

land-use designation from recreational/environmental open space to

government, educational and institutional facilities and to establish

a 34,000-square-foot floor area limit for the site. The amendment is

needed because a church use isn’t allowed within the current land-use

designation.

WHAT IT MEANS

It now goes to the City Council for consideration.

WHAT WAS SAID

“I think they did a good job on a difficult site,” Selich said.

“There’s some access issues off MacArthur and San Joaquin, and I

think they handled those about as well as they can be handled. It’s

an environmentally sensitive plan they did there, preserving the

riparian area --the little canyon that goes down through the site --

and integrating that into the overall landscaping. And it’s pleasing

architecture.”

ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH EXPANSION

The commission granted a request to continue the hearing on St.

Andrew’s expansion until Oct. 21 because the church has not submitted

a revised proposal for the expansion, which includes a youth and

family center.

Church representatives assessed their needs, as the Planning

Commission requested in August, and continued to discuss the

expansion with residents of the Cliff Haven and Newport Heights

neighborhoods, which would be most affected by it, church spokeswoman

Jill Kanzler said.

The request for a postponement is to have more time to revise the

plans, Kanzler said. The church is considering reducing the size of

the project even further, Kanzler added. In August, the church

announced plans to reduce its proposed growth from 35,948 square feet

to 27,168 square feet.

WHAT IT MEANS

The commission will consider the issue at its Oct. 21 meeting.