EDITORIAL:Newport willing, California Coastal Commission permitting

Among the questions that have come up during Newport Beach City Council candidates forums is one that seems to be on the minds of many Newport residents, especially those fortunate enough to live near the beaches: How should the city handle out-of-town parking?

According to a chorus of people, visitors to town are violating the city’s 10 p.m. beach curfew, leaving trash strewn on city streets, making noise in the early hours of the morning and even vandalizing property. The most benign violators are simply leaving their cars parked on Balboa Island while they spend weekends on Catalina Island.

This same chorus wants it all to end, and understandably so. The most popular idea is to establish parking curfews — probably in line with the beaches’ closure, which runs from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. — and provide residents with permits that would exempt them (and probably their guests) from the restrictions.

With so many residents agitating for permit parking (one letter writer to the Pilot claims to have 200 signatures on a petition), city leaders are obligated to respond to their constituents and give the idea serious consideration. But at the same time, they need to be wary of going along with the idea too quickly — and so far, they are taking the proper, considered course.

Among the questions members of the City Council have raised are: What would the boundaries of any permit area be? Do calls to police suggest the problem is so bad that a drastic solution is needed? Those and others need to be answered before any next step is taken.

But even if the council does decide a curfew is warranted, there is another looming player that is out of the council’s control: the California Coastal Commission. Because the area that residents are targeting is along the beaches, the statewide commission likely would have a say in the argument — or at least could entertain any appeal of the city’s decision. And the commission is strongly for more and easier access to the state’s beaches, which seemingly would make it an absolute opponent of any such permit parking. This would be especially true given that other cities potentially could use Newport’s law as a precedent: Imagine Malibu, Palos Verdes or Carmel citing a Newport law in a way that would effectively close those beaches to out-of-towners.

Can’t imagine that?

Then permit parking in Newport Beach is probably just a dream.