Lido House Hotel

The site of the former Newport Beach City Hall is the location of the proposed Lido House Hotel. This project would turn the former government building into a 4 story, 130 room high-cost hotel with retail and parking space. General practice has been for the developer to provide an in-lieu fee to mitigate the addition of further high-cost overnight accommodations; however, in this case the applicant had worked with Commission Staff to propose the option of supporting a 3-day camp for 350 disadvantaged youth from Title 1 schools at a nearby beach campsite for the period of 10 years. The number of students and years of funding were figured from the amount of the in-lieu fee ($1.4 million). What was debated was the possibility of a perpetual program as there was great appreciation for the proposed program to give the students a chance to experience and build appreciation for the coast. This possibility was proposed as an amending motion. However, the vote resulted in a tie (6:6), which, by default meant the amending motion was denied. The project as proposed in the Staff report was then voted on and approved.

Historically, the Coastal Commission has required in-lieu mitigation fees when approving projects for the development of overnight visitor-serving accommodations that are high cost as they represent a prohibitive factor of coastal access for those that cannot afford such prices.

In this case, the in-lieu fee was calculated to be $1.4 million. Rather than simply require the fee which would likely sit in a bank account for years accumulating interest, Commission Staff worked with the applicant and the City to develop a program that represented the cost of the in-lieu fee and would provide for a 3-day camp for 350 disadvantaged youth from Title 1 schools at a nearby beach campsite for the period of 10 years. The applicant would, in the end, be able to choose which option- the simple fee or the youth recreational program.