The Newport Beach City Council votes Tuesday, Oct. 13, on a plan to allow up to 78 homes at the edge of Newport Beach Country Club.

The agreement would give Eagle Four Partners, which operates the country club, vested development rights for five years on roughly two acres at the northeastern corner of the 128-acre property at 1 Clubhouse Drive in Newport Center. It would not directly authorize construction. Eagle Four would still need to complete the full entitlement and building process, including site development review and a tentative tract map, before any permits are issued.

The project, known as Fairway Three, cleared the Newport Beach Planning Commission on a 5-0 vote Sept. 17. Commissioner Jonathan Langford recused himself because his employer has an ownership interest in the site. Commissioner Tristan Harris was absent.

If the council approves the agreement Tuesday, a second reading would follow at the Oct. 27 council meeting.

Nearly $10 million in public fees

The development agreement sets public benefit fees at $128,205 per unit, totaling $9.99 million if all 78 homes are built, according to Stu News Newport. Associate Planner Jenny Hannsun told the Planning Commission at the Sept. 17 hearing that the breakdown includes roughly $4.68 million for a park fee, $2 million for a development impact fee and $3.32 million for public benefits at the council's discretion.

Eagle Four Partners has not submitted detailed housing plans or named a building partner, the OC Business Journal reported. Kevin Martin, a principal at Eagle Four, told the OC Business Journal he could not yet say whether the company would make a payment toward affordable housing as it did with its Ritz-Carlton Residences project.

The project is not subject to an inclusionary housing requirement, meaning none of the 78 units must be designated affordable, according to Community Development Director Jaime Murillo.

Affordable housing concerns

That gap drew criticism at the Sept. 17 hearing. Resident Jim Mosher, a former City Council candidate, told commissioners the overlays exist to help the city meet state-mandated affordable housing goals, not to add market-rate units, the Daily Pilot reported.

"I don't see any guarantee in here that this is going to advance our need to meet our [state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Assessment] requirement for affordable units," Mosher said.

Planning Commissioner Mark Rosene said at the Sept. 17 hearing that the bottom line is the applicant is reserving 78 units and he was confident staff could resolve technical questions before the council vote.

Broader housing backdrop

The vote arrives as Newport Beach faces legal and political pressure over its housing plan. The Newport Beach Stewardship Association filed a lawsuit in May challenging the city's use of housing overlays to meet its state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) of 4,845 units, citing an appellate ruling that struck down Redondo Beach's plan for the same practice, the Daily Pilot reported. Orange County Superior Court Judge Melissa McCormick is scheduled to hear the case Friday, Oct. 16.

Voters will also weigh in on Measure H on the November ballot. The measure would shrink the city's housing capacity from 8,174 units to 2,900 while counting pipeline projects toward that lower number. Neither the lawsuit nor Measure H names the Fairway Three project directly.

The Tuesday, Oct. 13, meeting begins at 4 p.m. at City Council Chambers, 100 Civic Center Drive.