Newport Beach City Manager Update:
New Public Dock
By Guest Contributor Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager – April 02, 2024
Source: Newport Beach Independent – newport-beach-city-manager-update-new-public-dock
Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager
Newport Harbor’s newest and largest public dock is now open for recreational boaters.
On Friday, March 29 I had the pleasure of joining Newport Beach City Council members along with officials from the County of Orange, the Irvine Company and State Assembly to celebrate the Balboa Marina Public Pier grand opening.
The project is a partnership between the City, County and Irvine Company.
The new pier can accommodate up to 12 small vessels or several larger vessels. It is free for day use by the public for up to three hours. The pier greatly expands public access and recreational opportunities in a previously underserved area of the harbor.
The new pier was constructed and financed by the Irvine Company as part of an agreement with the California Coastal Commission that allows for expansion of an adjacent private marina. The City of Newport Beach will own, maintain and operate the pier. It is ADA compliant and includes the opportunity to use the “human lift” device already in use at Marina Park.
Part of the dock is located on tidelands property controlled by the County of Orange. The County Board of Supervisors granted the City long-term access in 2022 with a 45-year, no-cost lease.
Discussions of a public pier date back to 2011, when the Irvine Company initiated a new phase of its marina expansion project. A public-private partnership was formed, in which the City agreed to pay the entitlement costs and the Irvine Company agreed to construct the dock.
A 2013 study by the Commission identified this location as one of the harbor areas where a public pier was most needed. It was No. 2 after Central Avenue (where a new pier was built in 2016).
I encourage residents and visitors to use and enjoy this wonderful new addition to the harbor!
Source: Newport Beach Independent – newport-beach-city-manager-update-new-public-dock
Newport Beach City Council members, joined by state and county elected representatives, held a ceremonial groundbreaking event on Friday, Sept. 15 to kick off construction of the Newport Bay Trash Interceptor, a sustainably powered system to collect floating trash before it enters the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve, Newport Harbor and beaches.
Newport Beach, known for its pristine beaches and picturesque harbors, has long been committed to preserving its natural resources. To further increase the City’s ability to monitor and maintain water quality in Newport Harbor, the City’s Harbor Department recently deployed two state-of-the-art water quality sensing buoys, or DataPods, in the harbor.
The Newport Bay Conservancy is hosting Coastal Cleanup Day at Upper Newport Bay on Saturday, Sept. 23 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Volunteers will meet at a dozen different mini-cleanup day sites around the 11-mile bay including the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center, Newport Aquatic Center, Big Canyon, Vista Point, Jamboree Bridge, etc. Exact meeting location will be announced and sent to everyone (group leaders) prior to Sept. 21.
Join Nancy Gardner as she chats with former Harbor Commission Chair Bill Kenney and Senior Civil Engineer John Kappeler about the upcoming Newport Beach water wheel project.
The Balboa Island Ferry, one of our most iconic Newport Beach tourism experiences, could be no more.
If that sounds dramatic, it is. I can’t imagine our city without the ferry, but unless something is done, this treasured piece of our city could be gone in less than two years.
Thousands of locals and visitors use the ferry every year and it’s a vital part of our culture and history. It is part of what makes us Newport Beach, and in my mind, it is as important as our beaches. But all of that is now threatened and could be lost.
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