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Council forms new advisory committee to study police headquarters sites after months of public opposition to park location
Summary
The council voted unanimously to dissolve the Police Headquarters Assessment Committee and create a new Police Headquarters Advisory Committee (three council members, four residents) to evaluate Civic Center and other candidate sites; the decision follows extensive public comment urging removal of a park site from consideration and calls for broader public engagement.
The City Council voted May 12 to dissolve the existing Police Headquarters Assessment Committee and create a new Newport Beach Police Headquarters Advisory Committee composed of three council members and four residents, two of whom must have qualifications in real estate finance and construction/architecture.
Acting presenter Ben Zadiba described the committee’s responsibilities as evaluating the feasibility, costs and design of the Civic Center campus and, if warranted, other sites such as 1201 Dove Street and the existing 870 Santa Barbara site. "The advisory committee would be charged with evaluating the feasibility of the Civic Center campus as a potential site for the new headquarters," Zadiba told the council.
The public hearing drew sustained turnout and dozens of commenters. Many speakers urged the council to remove the park at the Civic Center from consideration, pointing to community opposition, environmental concerns, cost and operational issues. Resident Keith Curry told the council, "The proposal to add residents to the advisory committee for the police station in the park plan is too little and it's too late," and urged the council to formally take the park off the table. Other commenters recommended the committee include an environmental expert, televise meetings, expand the public application period for committee membership and consider alternatives such as multiple substations rather than a single centralized headquarters.
Council discussion focused on clarifying scope, transparency and appointment processes. Several council members asked that the committee be able to consider multiple sites, that appointments be confirmed by the full council and that the committee's first order of business include appointing its own chair and vice chair rather than having those positions preselected. Councilmembers also sought assurances that the $1.5 million previously allocated for Civic Center environmental studies would remain in place unless and until council directed otherwise; staff said the allocation was not changed by the committee reform and that additional work on alternate sites would require separate council authorization and potentially expanded contracts.
The council passed the resolution unanimously after the mayor proposed refined language to emphasize discussion, public input and assessment rather than only narrow feasibility review. Staff said they will post the vacancy notice, accept applications for a longer application window than originally drafted, have the mayor form an ad hoc to review applicants, and bring candidates back to the full council for confirmation.
Ending: The committee formation resets the process and requires staff and the advisory committee to return recommendations and any requests for additional funding or design work to the council for final decisions.
