Bay’s ugly duckling phase flies off

The “punching bag” of the Newport Beach park system is about to get an upgrade.

Back Bay View Park at East Coast Highway and Jamboree Road, referred to by one former city councilman as a “weed park,” will get a $300,000 makeover in the next few months. More attractive arrangement of plants, a gazebo for enjoying the view, and decorative stones could be in the plans.

‘We just want to make it look a little more hospitable,” said City Councilman Don Webb, who is working on plans for improvements with Councilman Ed Selich.

One of the most maligned parks in the city’s inventory, Back Bay View Park opened in 2005. The city wanted to include more ornamental plants and grade the bluff top to give a better view of the bay, but the California Coastal Commission only permitted native plants and didn’t allow grading on the bluff, Webb said.

The site has some irrigation, but some of the original plants still didn’t thrive, and that’s left the park unattractive and unvisited.

“I get a lot of complaints from people over there that it’s just horrible,” Selich said. “Some people call me and say, ‘When is that park going to get done?’”

Now he can give them an answer. The council approved $300,000 for additional plantings in the 2007-08 budget, and the plants should go in by the end of the year.

Selich said a full slate of improvements, possibly including a gazebo or picnic tables, will be done over several years and could cost as much as $900,000 altogether.

City leaders hope more visitors will come once they spruce up the park, which sees little use besides on the Fourth of July as a fireworks viewing site. But the park has one problem that adding more plants won’t solve: visitors have to park their cars on Bayside Drive and walk up a slope to get there.

Still, council members expect the park’s reputation to improve with the upgrades.

“Basically, Back Bay View Park has become everyone’s punching bag,” Councilwoman Leslie Daigle said. “We’re responding to the frequent criticisms by our residents.”