HomeMy WebLinkAboutCorrespondence - Letter from Chairman Lindsley ParsonsJune 28, 1965
TO: CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS OF THE BEACON BAY COMMITTEE (Councilman
Cook and Councilman Marshall)
FROM: Lindsley Parsons, Chairman
It would appear to me that perhaps our committee might be
assuming too much authority to make a direct reply to the Beacon
Bay representatives in answer to the proposal to modify and extend
the leases on the residential and commercial areas. It is my
recollection that the committee's instructions were to meet with
the Beacon Bay group and look into the Beacon Bay matter.
After meeting with the Beacon Bay representatives and care-
ful consideration of the excellent and very comprehensive folio
prepared by the staff, it is my belief that the committee should
report to the Council; (1) that the present proposal is unrealistic
based on present property values; and (2) that any proposal that
may meet with the tentative approval of the Council should be placed
on a ballot and submitted to the entire electorate.
In preparing to make an analysis of any proposal that might
seem fair and reasonable, it seems to me, although others of the
committee may not agree, that we must consider the entire Beacon
Bay property in some depth, not only from the viewpoint of its
present limited residential and commercial use, but from the view-
point of what may be the best use for the entire community.
While I sympathize with the attitude that no one should ever
be driven from his home, I would hazard a prediction that not more
than a handful of the present leaseholders will still be living in
Beacon Bay at the expiration of the present leases, and that not
one of the present leaseholders will be still residing there at the
end of the currently proposed extended lease.
Some of this property is held by the City of Newport Beach
in trust for the State of California. All of it in a sense, is
held in trust by the Newport Beach City Council for the present
38,000 citizens of Newport Beach, and for another 50,000 more
citizens who will join us within the next two decades. Therefore,
I feel that this committee has a responsibility to take a look at
future and possibly more general community uses within the scope
of our trust.
To: Members of the Beacon Bay Committee
Page -2-
Considering the Beacon Bay development historically, it
appears to me that previous councils used their best judgment
at the time of the original lease and the subsequent renewals,
but previous councils were not faced with population explosions
and spiraling land values. I believe that this committee has a
sort of mandate of conscience in this case to try to project the
future and look for other uses to the greater benefit and prosper-
ity of the citizens of Newport Beach, even if the net result of
the study may only be a better yardstick to determine the value
of the present proposal and any future proposals from the Beacon
Bay Community Association and the Balboa Yacht Basin.
With these thoughts in mind, I would propose that the com-
mittee hand to the Council: --
Recommendations Nos. 1 and 2
i;
Paragraph 2, above) ; and
3. Copies of the staff folio entitled "Beacon Bay Lease",
plus the tidelands grants act of August 14, 1931, and
Sec. 37387, Gov't Code, recently forwarded by Joe Beek;
and
4. A complete study by the staff and committee exploring
all of the possible uses of the Beacon Bay property
for the benefit of the citizens of Newport Beach.
LINDSLEY PARSONS
Councilman