Pilot Editorial: Tennis Club is NOT the site

In a December 24 editorial, the editors of the Daily Pilot send a clear message to the City of Newport Beach: "Stay clear of the Tennis Club" as the site for a new City Hall.

You can read the Pilot's excellent editorial below and here.

Ever since the Daily Pilot's Alicia Robinson revealed in her November 18 story that the City had issued a Notice of Appraisal to the landowners of the Tennis Club property (an action that signaled it was contemplating the use of eminent domain to seize the property), the Newport Beach community's response has been swift, resounding and unequivocal: The Tennis Club at Newport Beach Country Club is not an option as a City Hall site. And, equally, the taking of it by means of eminent domain violates the spirit of Measure W.

Given the community's response - and, now, the Daily Pilot's caveat to stay away from the Tennis Club - it's time for Newport Beach to drop any designs it has to build an expensive City Hall facility on this site.

We don't dispute that our city's dedicated staff needs a state-of-the-art facility to serve Newport Beach in the 21st Century and beyond. But there are other more viable sites in the City that won't spark - as the Pilot predicts - "a knock-down, drag-out battle that the city hasn't seen in years."

Here is the Daily Pilot editorial:

What a year Newport Beach has had. It all started in January with a Rose Parade float, ridden by none other than then Mayor Don Webb, that commemorated the city's 100-year anniversary.

That event was soon followed by a multitude of centennial events that kept the city partying for the better part of 2006.

And there was political news as well. The voters, for the first time ever, were asked to elect six out of seven council seats in November. That number was inflated because of the unusual number of council seats that had been filled by appointees after elected council members had resigned.

In addition, a massive general plan amendment was approved, and Greenlight suffered its worst ballot box defeat ever as the Son of Greenlight was turned away by voters.

Then, of course, there was the ongoing debate over where to build the new city hall, which continues today.

Enter new Mayor Steve Rosansky. Webb handed the gavel over to him last week and we wish him all the best as he steers the ship in 2007. He'll have plenty of issues to contend with as well, and we have one bit of advice for him on the latest city hall question.

Stay clear of the Newport Beach tennis club.

Thankfully, Rosansky's recent public comments seem to indicate that he will indeed stay clear. And that's a good thing.

Going after the tennis club, which is part of the Newport Beach Country Club and golf course, would be a knock-down, drag-out battle that the city hasn't seen in years.

Robert O Hill, the managing partner of the group that owns the parcel, has vowed that he isn't selling, which means the city would need to take an eminent domain path if it wanted the property.

That would be ill-fated for a number of reasons. Coupled with all the legal battles and legal bills that would follow, the council needs to remember one thing. The reason Greenlight and its supporters were able to flourish for so long was because they were able to successfully tap into the public's distrust of previous councils and the perception that council members just didn't listen to their constituents. Pursuing eminent domain on the tennis club would just inflict an unnecessary black eye on the council at a time when it's enjoying a modicum of goodwill with the voters.

So happy holidays to all in Newport Beach. We believe the city is in good hands with Steve Rosansky and the rest of the council — new and old alike.

Protect NBCC wishes all of Newport Beach happy holidays as well.

Daily Pilot showcases Tennis, Golf Club Master Plan

The Daily Pilot today provides the Newport Beach community its first glimpse of the exciting Master Plan for the upgrade and renewal of the Golf Club and Tennis Club at Newport Beach Country Club.

A couple of highlights worth noting punctuate the story by Daily Pilot staffer Alicia Robinson, which you can read here. The first is the Pilot's publication of two compelling renderings of the elegant yet understated California Mediterranean architecture of the proposed Golf Clubhouse, one of the centerpiece elements of the Golf and Tennis Club Master Plan. The design is a classic Wallace Neff-style homage to Early California.

Two other points in the story are worth cheering.

Robinson reports that Robert O Hill - the controlling landowner of the Tennis Club and Golf Club property - confirms that the property is not for sale and that he "has vowed not to sell."

"First of all, I don't sell properties," O Hill told Robinson. "And, second, this is something that has a great emotional attachment for me."

The second bit of good news is Newport Beach Mayor Steve Rosansky's encouraging indication that the Tennis Club property could be losing its luster where the City is concerned.

"As we've looked further into the property, it's becoming less and less likely that we're going to pursue that property - I think that's the bottom line," the mayor told Robinson.

We believe Mayor Rosansky's sentiment is the right one. The opportunity to renew the Golf Club and Tennis Club at Newport Beach Country Club with beautiful and elegant new facilities is exceedingly more attractive and beneficial for Newport Beach - we believe - than a new City Hall on the property.

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Register reports on Newport's eminent domain threat

The Orange County Register today kicks off its reporting on the City of Newport Beach's potential use of eminent domain against the Tennis Club property. You can read Register staffer Jeff Overley's story - appearing on Page 3 of today's Local news section - here.

Worth noting is Councilmember Don Webb's comments regarding the sensitivity of seizing property through eminent domain.

"Condemnation is extremely sensitive," Webb tells Overley. "You have to go through an appraisal process, go through negotiations, make an offer." Webb's trinomial equation is probably right. The problem is, at least one part of that equation isn't even in play if O Hill's comments to the Daily Pilot's Robinson are any indication. When the landowner says the property is not for sale, then what is there to negotiate?

Also interesting in Overley's report is the extent to which the City has exercised the power of eminent domain in the past. Previous land takings by the City, according to Overley's report, include the condemnation of two Santa Ana Heights homes, the condemnation of three mobile homes to widen Pacific Coast Highway, and the taking of property for a new parking lot.

It's these kinds of government actions - we believe - that ignited Newport Beach voters to pass Measure W by nearly an 8 to 2 margin.

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Tennis Clubhouse architecture gets preview

Protect Newport Beach County Club! has seen the architectural renderings of the proposed new Tennis Clubhouse that's central to the Master Plan for the Golf Club and Tennis Club at Newport Beach Country Club.

The proposed Tennis Clubhouse design mirrors the classic California Mediterranean stylings of the Golf Clubhouse element in the Master Plan. Together, the two central elements of the Master Plan create a spectacular presentation that transforms the entire property into a world-class golf and tennis amenity. We believe the Master Plan will help ensure that Newport Beach remains the home of the Toshiba Classic, and can once again be the home of Davis Cup and other professional tennis events.

Steve Smith: No eminent domain in Newport

The voices of reason opposing Newport Beach's use of eminent domain to acquire the Tennis Club property at Newport Beach Country Club grow louder.

In his December 16 "On The Town" column (here), Daily Pilot columnist Steve Smith calls the specter of the City's use of eminent domain to convert the Tennis Club into a new City Hall facility "unsettling."

And Smith also offers that the City's appraisal of the Tennis Club property - which is not for sale - "less than two weeks after Newport Beach residents voted decidedly against the general principle of eminent domain is frightening."

The City's appraisal action also has Smith wondering "why Measure W, the eminent domain vote, was placed on the ballot in the first place if there was no intention of following the voice of the people after the results were tabulated."

Smith gets it. Measure W's resounding approval was more than just a vote to significantly limit the City's use of eminent domain, we believe it was also a repudiation of the concept of eminent domain in principle.

The Tennis Club at Newport Beach Country Club is not the right site for a new City Hall. It would destroy a valuable social and recreational asset in our community, cost the taxpayers in excess of $100 million, and prevent the planned improvements of the Golf Club and the Tennis Club facilities at Newport Beach Country Club.

Pilot Letters: Newporters speak out

The protests have begun.

On the Forum page of today's Daily Pilot, a half dozen Newport Beach residents voice clear and strong opposition to the notion that the current site of the Tennis Club at Newport Beach Country Club is suited to be the home of a new City Hall facility. Some of the letters also torpedoe the City's potential use of eminent domain to acquire the property.

You can read the letters here. We'll also be posting the letters on the Daily Pilot Letters link.

As we've written here before, many of us don't necessarily disagree that our City, its dedicated employees and its citizens deserve a modern City Hall facility that will serve us well as Newport Beach begins its second century of incorporation. But it should be a City Hall on the right site and for the right price.

Condemning a rich social and recreational asset like the Tennis Club is certainly not the course - an expensive course, we might add - that the City should be charting.

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Robinson's 'Political Landscape' Column reports on Protect NBCC blogsite

Daily Pilot staffer Alicia Robinson's 'Political Landscape' column today briefly reports on the Protect Newport Beach Country Club weblog. We appreciate her coverage. You can read Robinson's column here. The column is also posted under the Protect NBCC News Archives section.

Register's Greenhut: Eminent domain in Newport Beach?

Prolific Orange County Register editorial writer Steven Greenhut wonders in a recent Orange Punch blog post if the City of Newport Beach's potential use of eminent domain to seize the Tennis Club property at NBCC as the site for a new City Hall is "really necessary." See Greenhut's post here.

Even though the flexing of its eminent domain muscle for the purpose of building a new City Hall is a public use, writes Greenhut, it "doesn't mean it's a good use" of the power.

"...every city wants to build edifices, property rights and taxpayers be damned," offers Greenhut. We couldn't agree more. And in this case, both property rights and Newport Beach taxpayers are potentially damned.

In the first instance, it was at a closed-door session in October that the City decided to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars to appraise the Tennis Club property even though it's not for sale. But that expenditure is chump change compared to what the City may force taxpayers to spend to acquire the property in a forced sale (read: eminent domain). Preliminary estimates peg the dirt and other damages due to lost revenues at up to $70 million.

Where property rights are concerned, the collateral damage outside of the losses to the landowner, the Golf Club and the Tennis Club will certainly spill over to the Granville community - which abutts the Racquet Club property - as well as Irvine Terrace. The residents of these communities can - in our opinion - anticipate significant quality-of-life impacts such as noise and increased traffic if City Hall winds up on the Tennis Club property.

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Daily Pilot Report: City may have to fight for Tennis Club

The Daily Pilot's Alicia Robinson reports in a Saturday, December 9, story that eminent domain is indeed on the minds of some Newport Beach City Councilmembers where the Tennis Club at Newport Beach Country Club is concerned. Read Robinson's report here.

Writes Robinson: Another unanswered question is whether the council would use eminent domain. The three councilmen who have been working on the issue — Ed Selich, Tod Ridgeway and Don Webb — said it's still a possibility.

That even the possibility of eminent domain is being entertained by some councilmembers changes the Daily Pilot's headline from "City may have to fight for Tennis Club" to "City will have to fight for Tennis Club."

Protect Newport Beach Country Club will vehemently oppose any eminent domain action taken by the City of Newport Beach against the Tennis Club property.

Welcome to Protect Newport Beach Country Club

Who we are and what we're fighting for...

Welcome to the weblog of Protect Newport Beach Country Club! We are a coalition of concerned citizens, businesses and community leaders opposed to plans by the City of Newport Beach to build a new City Hall on seven acres at the Newport Beach Country Club, and which have been the long-time home of the Tennis Club at Newport Beach Country Club.

In a November 18, 2006 report in the Daily Pilot, we learned that the City of Newport Beach had initiated steps to begin appraising the seven-acre Tennis Club property, and that the City has an interest in acquiring the property from the landowner - Golf Realty Fund - for the purpose of building a new City Hall facility. You can read the story by Daily Pilot reporter Alicia Robinson here.

Subsequent to the publishing of the story, we learned that the City made its decision to issue a "Notice of Decision to Appraise Property for New City Hall and other public facilities" to Golf Realty Fund in October during a closed session of the Newport Beach City Council. Closed sessions are not open public meetings.

Which begs the question: Why the secret meeting?

We surmise that the City's decision to issue a of Notice of Appraisal for a parcel of property that isn't for sale - and the seven acres that are home to the Tennis Club are not for sale - can only mean the City may be planning to take the property through eminent domain.

This is an alarming prospect. After all, on November 7 the voters of Newport Beach overwhelmingly approved Measure W by 76.4% of the vote, rejecting in principle - we believe - the concept of eminent domain. In fact, Measure W received more votes (22,517) than any of the council candidates in their respective districts.

Beyond what appears to be the City's willingness to exercise the power of eminent domain in contradiction to the will of the voters, the loss of the Tennis Club property will effectively unravel thousands of hours of work and the investment of considerable financial resources by Golf Realty Fund, the Newport Beach Country Club, the Founding Members of the Newport Beach Country Club, the membership of the Tennis Club and IBC (operators of the Tennis Club) to develop a wonderful vision for the renewal of the Golf Club and the Tennis Club at Newport Beach Country Club.

The Master Plan created through this collaborative partnership envisions the construction of a new Tennis Clubhouse, a stadium-style center court, a spectacular new Golf Clubhouse and a new Country Club parking lot lavishly landscaped with olive trees and embroidered by a 700-foot landscape buffer along Pacific Coast Highway. As well, the Master Plan includes a small cluster of one-story, premier villas on a portion of the Tennis Club property for use by visitors and guests of club members, as well as the world's finest golfers and tennis players.

The Master Plan will secure the prestige of the Golf Club and Tennis Club at Newport Beach Country Club, ensuring that it remains the home of the Toshiba Classic, which contributes more than $1 million a year to Hoag Memorial Hospital and some $30 million to the Newport Beach economy.

The Master Plan will also transform the Tennis Club into a state-of-the-art tennis center, raising its stature as a worthy venue of Davis Cup and other professional tennis events.

We will be providing you with a compelling picture and explanation of the Master Plan in the near future. The good news is, the Master Plan is compatible with the updated Newport Beach General Plan (Measure V) that voters approved on November 7.

By contrast, building a new City Hall on the Tennis Club property will scuttle the Master Plan, thus dashing our vision to build a new Golf Clubhouse at the Newport Beach Country Club. And it will eliminate forever the Tennis Club, a genuine social and recreational asset that has been a part of Newport Beach's heritage for nearly two generations, and which has hosted Presidents of the United States. The loss of the Tennis Club will mean taking away the home court of the Sage Hill High School Tennis Team. And, it will displace more than 1,000 tennis enthusiasts who call the Tennis Club at Newport Beach Country Club their home.

Perhaps most important to the taxpayers of Newport Beach is the cost of building a new City Hall on the Tennis Club property. We believe that the City's taking of the Tennis Club property will cost Newport Beach taxpayers as much as $70 million. That staggering total, combined with residual damages, demolition and construction costs will push the price tag for a new City Hall well in excess of $100 million.

If Newport Beach truly needs a new City Hall, that's fine. But it should be constructed on the right site and at a price our city can afford and is willing to pay.

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NBCC Founding Members Fire Back...

In the Sunday, December 3 edition of the Daily Pilot, Newport Beach Country Club Founding Members Ron Foster and Dick Schroeder - both long-time residents and well respected gentlemen in the Newport Beach community - wrote a compelling indictment of the City's interest in taking the Tennis Club property at Newport Beach Country Club to build a new City Hall.

In addition to being Founding Members of the Newport Beach Country Club, Foster and Schroeder are also past presidents of the NBCC Board of Governors, and members of the NBCC Equity Committee.

Foster's and Schroeder's column is a must read. We've posted the column below. You can also read the column here.

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY: Hints of eminent domain

By Ron Foster and Dick Schroeder

When the Newport Beach City Council placed Measure W — written by Councilman Keith Curry — on the Nov. 7 ballot, our city's leadership was essentially asking the voting public to voice its opinion on the concept of eminent domain in principle and Newport Beach's limited use of it specifically.

We answered the call. Measure W was overwhelmingly approved with 76.4% of the vote, receiving more votes, 22,517, than any of the council candidates in their respective districts. Our message? That eminent domain is abhorrent to our deeply held American values that private property rights are inviolable, and that our property isn't for government's taking.

Just 11 days following the vote of the people, the Nov. 18 edition of the Daily Pilot splashed a front-page headline reporting that Newport Beach was — according to outgoing Councilman Tod Ridgeway — in talks to acquire the seven acres currently occupied by the tennis club at the Newport Beach Country Club.

The property — the cherished and longtime home of the tennis club and an important social and recreation asset in our community — is the latest parcel our city is eyeing as the new home for a city hall.

Councilman Ed Selich offered more detail in the story, telling the Daily Pilot that "we're appraising the property." In fact, the landowners — Golf Realty Fund, of which lifelong Newport Beach resident Robert O Hill is the owner — has received a notice of appraisal from the city.

The problem is that the property isn't for sale.Quite the contrary. O Hill, Newport Beach Country Club, the Founding Members of the Newport Beach Country Club, the membership of the tennis club and the management of IBC have invested thousands of hours and significant financial resources over the last four years developing a compelling master plan for a new tennis clubhouse, a new stadium court, a spectacular new golf clubhouse and a new country club parking lot filled with olive trees and a 700-foot landscape buffer along East Coast Highway. As well, a small cluster of one-story, five-star bungalows on a portion of the excess tennis courts, for use by visitors and guests of club members, is also part of the master plan and will help pay for the multimillion-dollar improvements.

That the master plan exists — and, in fact, was submitted to the Newport Beach planning department a year and a half ago — should be proof enough for the city that the tennis club property is not for sale and not going away. With the Nov. 7 passing of the general plan amendment, the master plan and the dreams of the members of Newport Beach Country Club can now become a reality.

It should be deeply troubling to the residents of Newport Beach that its government is spending taxpayer money for the appraisal of property that isn't on the market. Only one alarming conclusion can be drawn from this dumbfounding action: That the city of Newport Beach is laying plans to seize the tennis club property under eminent domain in complete contradiction to the will of the voters as expressed in their overwhelming support of Measure W.

The citizens of Newport Beach should not tolerate even the entertainment of such an action.

Never mind that the taking alone of the tennis club property — combined with the damage claims from the larger property — would drain taxpayers of more than $70 million, or that the city would lose a tremendously valuable part of its social and recreational heritage. Never mind that the building of a new city hall on the tennis club property would disrupt the tranquillity and aesthetics of Newport Beach Country Club.

Forget, too, that such a taking would effectively scuttle the master plan, including the new golf clubhouse, preventing the Newport Beach Country Club from enhancing the word-class experience that draws the Toshiba Classic to our city. And ignore that the PGA's Toshiba Classic — which raises about $1 million a year for Hoag Hospital and pumps more than $30 million a year into our local economy — opposes a city hall facility within Newport Beach Country Club and supports the new golf clubhouse and the bungalows to help draw top players and their families to the event. Finally, shelve for the moment the untenable quality-of-life effects the residents of the Granville and Irvine Terrace communities will endure with a city hall facility camped next door.

Instead, the red flashing light and alarm bells that should be going off in the heads of Newport Beach voters are warnings that their city government is contemplating taking private property not one month after voters told it not to go there; that eminent domain is anathema in Newport Beach.

Rest assured, the respective members of the Newport Beach Country Club, the tennis club the residents of Granville and their families — a force of some 5,000 people — will vigorously contest any attempt by the city of Newport Beach to take the tennis club property.

RON FOSTER AND DICK SCHROEDER are past presidents of the board of governors, members of the equity committee, and founding members of the Newport Beach Country Club.