What Newport Beach’s Planning Commission is about to decide

The Planning Commission meets in the City Council Chambers, 100 Civic Center Drive, at 6:00 p.m. per the agenda’s own heading. Three public-hearing items, one study session — and the lead item asks the commission to recommend approving a development agreement for a project that does not exist yet. These are pending decisions from the posted agenda — not outcomes. Every item links to the official record.

Source: official agenda (PDF) · meeting page · Written comments are asked for by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, the day before the meeting · The City Council also holds a special meeting this day — see our City Council brief

✅ What actually passed (confirmed from the Legistar vote record): Per the city’s meeting record, the Fairway Three development agreement (Item 2) was recommended for approval, 5-0: a motion by Rosene, seconded by Gazzano, to adopt Resolution No. PC2026-025 recommending the City Council approve the agreement filed as PA2025-0019, with Langford recorded absent for that vote. The record does not add any public-benefit terms to what the agenda stated, and the City Council still has to act. The Reef View Circle setback amendment (Item 3) was recommended 6-0 — a motion by Reed, seconded by Rosene, adopting Resolution No. PC2026-026 recommending council approval of the zoning code amendment (PA2026-0016); as a Title 20 amendment it goes to the council for final action. The Five Crowns patio permit was confirmed void, 6-0 (Item 4): a motion by Ellmore, seconded by Reed, adopted Resolution No. PC2026-027 confirming PA2023-0202 “is of no further force and effect and has not been in effect since December 2, 2025.” The August 6 minutes (Item 1) were approved as amended on a motion by Langford, seconded by Reed, with five ayes and Salene abstaining. No action is recorded on the Corona del Mar corridor study session (Item 5), as the agenda said none would be taken. Six commissioners appear in the vote record — Rosene, Salene, Ellmore, Langford, Gazzano and Reed; Tristan Harris does not appear in it. The record refers to Rosene as chairperson, while the posted agenda listed Salene as chair. The minutes are still marked draft and no minutes document has been posted; we will update this page when they are.

The headline: Fairway Three — a development agreement covering up to 78 residential units at the northeastern edge of the Newport Beach Country Club, which would hand the applicant a five-year vested right to develop in exchange for “negotiated public benefits.” The agenda states flatly: “No actual project is proposed at this time.” It does not price the public benefits, and the only dollar figure printed anywhere on the agenda is the $500 Levine Act disclosure threshold.

🏌 Fairway Three: 78 units, five years, no project

The applicant “is requesting approval of a development agreement in connection with the potential future development of Fairway Three, a residential development consisting of up to 78 residential units at the northeastern portion of the Newport Beach Country Club.” Site location on the agenda: 1 Clubhouse Drive. Case number PA2025-0019. Item 2
The agenda explains the sequencing in its own words: “No actual project is proposed at this time. Before submitting entitlements for tis [sic] project, the applicant is requesting a development agreement…which would provide the applicant with the vested right to develop the Project for a term of five years and to provide negotiated public benefits to the City.” Item 2
A vested right freezes the rules a project is judged under, so later changes to city standards do not apply to it. The agenda names no public benefit and no dollar value for one. Item 2
The commission would also find the agreement needs no further environmental review, because it is “consistent with the previously certified Program Environmental Impact Report (SCH No. 2023060699).” The action is a recommendation — Resolution No. PC2026-025 — and the City Council decides. Item 2

📏 Three Reef View Circle homes: setbacks cut to 10 feet

An amendment to Setback Map No. S-11C would “change front setbacks…from 34 feet to 10 feet for 1641 Reef View Circle and from 39 feet to 10 feet for 1647 and 1653 Reef View Circle” — a zoning code amendment under Title 20, filed as PA2026-0016. Item 3
Staff recommends finding the project exempt from CEQA under Class 5 (Minor Alterations in Land Use Limitations) and adopting Resolution No. PC2026-026 recommending council approval. The agenda’s attachment list includes an HOA Letter of Approval and a prior Modification Permit (PA2005-191). Item 3

🍭 Closing the book on the Five Crowns patio

Under Current Business, the commission would confirm that a permit is dead. On April 29, 2025 the City Council denied an appeal and approved a limited term permit and coastal development permit for “a temporary outdoor dining patio with live entertainment at Five Crowns Restaurant” at 3801 East Coast Highway. On December 2, 2025, “the Applicant voluntarily surrendered their entitlement.” Item 4
Resolution No. PC2026-027 would confirm PA2023-0202 “is of no further force and effect and has not been in effect since December 2, 2025,” and that the earlier Resolution No. 2025-18 “presents no live controversy and shall not be relied upon or invoked in connection with any future discretionary approvals.” Item 4

🏢 Corona del Mar corridor study — a look, not a vote

A study session introduces the Corona del Mar Commercial Corridor Study (PA2024-0002) and “the proposed amendments to the…General Plan, Local Coastal Program, and Municipal Code that serve to implement its recommendations.” Site location is listed as citywide. Item 5
The agenda is explicit: “No action will be taken at this study session.” The amendments would return for a noticed public hearing, with the City Council as “the final decisionmaker.” Attachments include a Corridor Atlas and council material dating to November 4, 2025. Item 5

🪑 Also on the agenda

Consent: minutes, listed in the agenda’s item line as “MINUTES OF AUGUST 6, 2025” but attached as “Draft Minutes of August 6, 2026” — the two lines disagree by a year on the posted agenda. Item 1
The agenda carries the Levine Act notice: a party to a proceeding involving a licence, permit or entitlement must disclose on the record any contribution of more than $500 made in the preceding 12 months to any elected or appointed city officer. That is the only dollar figure on the agenda. Agenda
Appeal windows are printed: 14 days for use permits, variances, site plan reviews and modification permits; 10 days for tract and parcel maps, lot mergers and lot line adjustments. General Plan, zoning and Local Coastal Program amendments “are automatically forwarded to the City Council for final action.” Agenda
The commission is listed as David Salene (Chair), Jonathan Langford (Vice Chair), Greg Reed (Secretary), and Commissioners Curtis Ellmore, Michael Gazzano, Tristan Harris and Mark Rosene. Speakers are limited to three minutes. Agenda

Council Brief summaries are produced from official public records by our automated newsroom and reviewed before publication. Items are described as posted; the council may amend, continue, or remove items at the meeting. Spot an error? hello@councilbrief.com — we publish corrections.