Port is denied later hours

The Newport Beach City Council on Tuesday denied a Corona del Mar restaurant’s request to extend its weekend hours after hearing complaints about noise from neighbors, but said it would consider allowing the owner to feature some type of live entertainment.

The Port Restaurant & Bar had asked the council to reconsider an application to extend its closing time from midnight to 1 a.m. on weekends. The restaurant also asked permission to open for lunch on weekends.

The Newport Beach Planning Commission previously turned down the restaurant’s requests after hearing complaints from residents about noise and parking problems.

The Zagat-rated restaurant sits behind the old Port Theater at 440 Heliotrope Ave.

The council voted to allow the Port to open for lunch on the weekends, and will consider allowing the restaurant to feature acoustic entertainment at a later date, but balked at allowing the eatery to stay open until 1 a.m.

Some residents complained of noise and other late-night nuisances the restaurant generates.

Corona del Mar resident Carol Ann Rohr handed the City Council photographs of a pool of vomit she said she snapped by a car outside the Port.

“This activity can only be increased many fold if they are allowed to stay open,” Rohr said. “One o’clock is too late in the middle of our residential area.”

Others at the meeting complained patrons leaving the restaurant late at night loiter, disturbing residents.

“People stay already because they’re drunk, and they linger because they’re drunk,” Corona del Mar property owner Dawn Stone said. “If you keep it open until 1, they will linger even longer.”

Dozens of Port patrons and staff members also spoke on the restaurant’s behalf.

“While I sympathize with neighbors in close proximity to the Port, they must have known that restaurants have been operating at this site since the early 1970s,” said Kent Moore, a board member from the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce, which supported the Port’s appeal.

Several Corona del Mar resident said the Port was a vibrant and beloved meeting place in the neighborhood.

“The appeal of Corona del Mar is its eclectic-ness,” said local musician Jeff Wright, who use to play acoustic guitar at the Port until city officials cracked down on live music at the restaurant because it didn’t have a permit. “I’ve lost my gig. It did wonders for my music career, now it’s been taken away.”

In other business the council approved an ordinance Tuesday to curb water consumption in the city when supplies are scarce.

The ordinance creates permanent restrictions, as well as a tiered structure of restrictions, based on how much the city might have to cut back its usage in the event of a shortage.

Permanent restrictions include things like forcing fountains and commercial car washes to use re-circulating water.

The tiered restrictions range from limiting watering to four days a week for all customers to more extreme measures like a ban on watering and filling fountains and pools.