What would it take to open a small wine bar on East Coast Highway in the Village today? Newport Beach's code has no wine bar category. It counts a wine bar as a bar, lounge or nightclub, which needs a Conditional Use Permit from the Planning Commission. Then comes parking. Most buildings on the corridor were put up before modern parking requirements, and they can't add spaces.
That second hurdle explains a lot about what the Village has and doesn't have. The city's consultant, Dudek, studied the 1.27 miles of East Coast Highway from Avocado Avenue to Hazel Drive. It found that outdoor dining exists but isn't widespread, that most facades are dull or inactive, and that existing buildings aren't reaching their development potential. On September 17, 2026, the Planning Commission held a study session on a set of code changes meant to fix that. Read closely, most of the package is about one number: how many parking spaces a business needs per square foot.
The parking ratio that decides who signs the lease
According to Newport Beach's staff report, under current rules, an owner whose building lacks the required parking can't lease to a new tenant whose use needs more than one space per 250 square feet unless the owner adds parking. The other options are a Director-level waiver, which can cover up to 20 percent of the requirement if conditions such as bike racks or ride-share spaces are met, or a Conditional Use Permit. Restaurants need one space per 100 square feet, a rate set by Ordinance No. 2023-6. That's two and a half times the threshold an older building can absorb.
City staff spell out the effect directly. The permit route adds risk, cost and time, and that "ultimately prevents property owners from leasing to eating and drinking establishments." According to the staff report, property and business owners repeatedly named minimum parking as the biggest barrier to reinvestment. The study backed them up, finding the city's requirements higher than those on typical main streets. The problem isn't new. A 2018 Walker Consultants memo prepared for the city found that code requirements were higher than estimated demand and that parking rules had at times kept new businesses away.
There's plenty of demand on the corridor. By the study's count, it draws 2.9 million visitors a year who stay 30 minutes or longer. Forty percent of them are Newport Beach locals from less than five miles away, and weekday traffic is about the same as weekend traffic. What limits restaurants is which tenants an existing building is legally allowed to accept.
Why the proposal stops at 20 seats
Staff first considered lowering the parking rate for all restaurants to one space per 250 square feet, then dropped the idea because it conflicted with the 2023 citywide parking update. Instead they went to an existing category. "Take-out service, fast-casual" already allows up to 20 seats at one space per 250 square feet, but it bans alcohol and raises the review level for hours past 11 p.m. The proposal removes both of those limits. Small restaurants could then move into buildings with nonconforming parking under the existing rules.
In practice, a 20-seat place with wine, beer and a late kitchen would fit the parking math the Village's buildings can already meet. A 60-seat restaurant still would not. For larger restaurants, staff suggest an in-lieu parking fee collected monthly rather than annually. The money would fund mobility measures such as leasing private lots for public parking or supporting a trolley, not new parking structures.
Here's how permit requirements would change inside the proposed Corona del Mar overlay:
Use | Current requirement | Proposed in CdM overlay |
|---|---|---|
Food service, no late hours | Permitted, but a Minor Use Permit near residential zones | Minor Use Permit reviewed by the Director |
Food service with late hours | Conditional Use Permit | Minor Use Permit |
Fast-casual, up to 20 seats, late hours | Permitted or Minor Use Permit | Minor Use Permit |
Wine bar | Conditional Use Permit, treated as a bar | Minor Use Permit, new category |
Veterinary services | Conditional Use Permit | Minor Use Permit |
Bars, lounges, nightclubs | Conditional Use Permit | No change |
The "near residential zones" part of the first row matters more than it looks. Staff note that most restaurants in Corona del Mar border residential zoning, so most of them already need a Minor Use Permit today. The new wine bar category would also come with operating standards. Staff floated limits on pour sizes, a required food menu and limits on which Alcoholic Beverage Control license types qualify.
Patios get easier to approve, but with a 9 p.m. limit
The proposal also opens a route that many restaurant owners asked for during the pandemic, letting restaurants of any size turn private parking spaces into outdoor dining patios. The faster approval comes with conditions, though. Residents raised concerns during outreach about outdoor dining next to homes, so staff suggest that restaurants approved through the streamlined Director review close their patios at 9 p.m. daily. Live entertainment would have to stay indoors and end by 9 p.m. Any restaurant that wants later hours would go through the Zoning Administrator, with a public hearing where neighbors can comment.
That 9 p.m. limit fits a decade of patio decisions on this corridor. In 2016, the City Council approved sidewalk patios facing East Coast Highway for Rothschild's, The Bungalow and Avila's El Ranchito. The patios were possible only because the sidewalks had been widened, and each was required to close at 10 p.m. More recently, on April 29, 2025, the City Council denied an appeal and approved a temporary outdoor patio with live entertainment at Five Crowns, 3801 East Coast Highway. The restaurant voluntarily gave up that approval on December 2, 2025. At its September 17 meeting, the Planning Commission confirmed the approval was void. Both cases went through a public hearing one patio at a time. The proposed overlay would set objective standards in advance, so a patio that closes by 9 p.m. wouldn't need a full hearing to get approved.
What the overlay would rule out, and what it would allow upstairs
The overlay also limits some uses. Drive-thrus, self-service car washes, limited vehicle repair, vehicle rental and sales offices, and animal boarding would be banned for new businesses throughout the commercial zone. The study found that these uses break up sidewalks and that their noise and exhaust make outdoor dining harder. Gas stations would stay allowed because East Coast Highway is a major road. The report names Beach City Performance as one business that would become nonconforming. It could keep operating with no phase-out deadline, and staff are considering letting such businesses move within the corridor with a Conditional Use Permit.
Above the storefronts, the proposal would allow homes for the first time on Corridor Commercial land, which currently prohibits residential use. Units would be allowed only above the ground floor. Height limits would stay at 32 feet for flat roofs and 37 feet for sloped roofs, so no extra height is proposed. Owners who combine two or more parcels could build up to a floor area ratio of 1.0 instead of the current 0.75. Staff asked the Commission whether it supports a cap of 30 homes plus 18,700 square feet of new commercial space across the whole overlay. That's below the 100 units or 40,000 square feet that would trigger a citywide vote under Charter Section 423. An owner who consolidates or removes driveways and creates new street parking on East Coast Highway would get two spaces of credit toward their off-street requirement for each new street space.
Two ideas were dropped. Paid parking meters had no support from the community or businesses, and the business community showed no interest in an employee shuttle to remote lots such as Fashion Island or City Hall.
What residents will see before any code changes
Some of the changes are already on the street. In June 2026, the city installed a digital sign at the top of the Main Beach ramp that shows real-time parking availability in the Corona del Mar State Beach lots. By the end of 2026, staff expect to start installing two dynamic message signs on East Coast Highway to show parking availability and closures. Staff also expect to begin building a pedestrian-activated HAWK signal at Orchid Avenue and East Coast Highway, a busy pedestrian crossing. A parking app the city tested didn't meet its goals.
The trolley is less certain. The free 2026 Balboa Peninsula Trolley ran on summer weekends from May 23 through September 7. Its posted stops don't include the Village. In February 2025, the Daily Pilot reported that staff hoped to test a loop through Corona del Mar and Newport Center during the 2026 winter holidays, with a possible full launch in summer 2028. As of early October 2026, no published city schedule shows that pilot.
Where the process stands
- August 22, 2023: then-Mayor Pro Tem Lauren Kleiman asked for a study of land use and parking on the corridor.
- June 11, 2024: the City Council hired Dudek to do the study.
- August 12, 2025: a community open house drew 77 attendees.
- November 4, 2025: the City Council supported all of the recommendations.
- February 10, 2026: the Council formally started the code amendments.
- September 17, 2026: the Planning Commission held its study session, with no vote.
According to the meeting summary, public speakers at the September session included Tricia Sanchez, Cynthia Holleran, Lisa Sutton, Wade Womack and Doug Harmon. Their concerns covered parking, traffic on Pacific Coast Highway, safety, outreach and keeping the Village's character. Sanchez described parking and congestion on the corridor as already at the limit and asked for more detailed outreach to residents. The Corona del Mar Residents Association says a public hearing will follow once draft code language is ready. No date has been announced. After that hearing, the Commission will make a recommendation, and the City Council will make the final decision. In the meantime, the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce is holding a networking mixer at Foretti's Restaurant, 2929 East Coast Highway, on October 21 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
A zoning overlay can change what a commercial parcel is allowed to hold. If you own a home a block off the corridor or are weighing one, the details matter: how late a patio can stay open, whether units can go above the shop next door, and how close a new driveway or crossing will be. Jade Larney reads the draft language and hearing record alongside clients so the proposal is part of the decision from the start. Request a Consultation & Free Home Valuation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
