Newport Beach Pier Transfer Permit Prompts Debate

Byline: Ambrosia Brody NEWPORT BEACH — Discussion about whether a private dock should be allowed to partly cover a neighboring property, at a Newport Beach City Council earlier this month, resulted in the property owner at 508 South Bay Front on Balboa Island issuing a letter to the city, in an attempt to correct “misrepresentations” allegedly made by speakers at the meeting and “set the record straight.” “At last night’s (Aug. 13) council meeting, several speakers during public comment grossly misrepresented the status of the John Vallely dock matter,” wrote Vallely’s legal counsel, representing him on this issue. “In watching the meeting on television, it appeared to me some (council) members might have been influenced by these misrepresentations, or concerned about the amended ordinances based on these misrepresentations. For that reason, I feel it is necessary to correct the misrepresentations so (city council) members have the correct information.” During the city council meeting, a speaker who owns the dock that Vallely’s pier encroaches upon said Valley applied for a business license to run a boat rental company. In the letter, Vallely’s counsel contends that “contrary to the repeated representations of the adjacent property owner and her attorney, the Vallely dock is not an illegal...