Title
SNUG HARBOR SURF PARK (PA2024-0069)
Site Location: 3100 Irvine Avenue
Recommendation
Summary:
A request to redevelop the central 15.38-acre parcel of the privately owned Newport Beach Golf Course. The existing driving range and putting green, pro-shop, restaurant and bar, and three holes of golf would be removed and replaced with a new surf-focused outdoor commercial recreation use (i.e., a surf park). The site would be improved with approximately five acres of surfing lagoons surrounded by viewing platforms, seating, pools, a spa, restrooms, landscaping, and 351 surface parking spaces. The proposed hours for the surf park are from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., daily. The project includes the construction of a new three-story amenity clubhouse which would provide a reception and lobby area, surf academy, fitness facility, yoga center, administrative offices, locker rooms, retail space, a restaurant, viewing suites, and a coffee and snack bar. The basement level would provide space for golf cart storage, surfboard storage, facility storage, mechanical equipment, and staff area. The project also includes a two-story athlete accommodation building with 20 rooms. In total, the project would provide approximately 79,533 square feet of building area, however 19,761 square feet is excluded from the total development limit of the site as incidental building area consistent with Table LU1 (Land Use Plan Categories) of the General Plan for properties categorized as Parks and Recreation. As golf operations are proposed to continue, existing access would be maintained to the golf course holes identified as the front six and the back nine. To implement the project, the Planning Commission will consider making a recommendation to the City Council regarding the following:
- General Plan Amendment: To increase the development limit from 20,000 square feet to 59,772 square feet for Anomaly Number 58, as identified in Table LU2 of the General Plan Land Use Element.
- Major Site Development Review: To construct a nonresidential building larger than 20,000 square feet.
- Conditional Use Permit: To allow the operation of an outdoor commercial recreation use, to authorize alcohol sales within the amenity clubhouse and throughout the grounds of the surfing lagoon, to establish the appropriate parking rate, and to allow the construction of buildings taller than 18 feet.
- Modification Permit: To allow for the construction of retaining walls taller than 8 feet.
Recommended Actions:
1. Conduct a public hearing;
2. Adopt Resolution No. PC2025-018 recommending the City Council take the following actions:
a. Certify the Environmental Impact Report filed as State Clearinghouse Number 2024110238; and
b. Approve the General Plan Amendment, Major Site Development Review, Conditional Use Permit, and Modification Permit filed as PA2024-0069.