Will winds of change return wood-burning pits in Newport?

Wood-burning beach bonfires could return to the Balboa Pier and Corona del Mar State Beach — known as Big Corona — though with the city fire rings thinned and spread out to include the Dunes Waterfront Resort, the Newport Pier and other areas.

The Newport Beach City Council on Tuesday will consider whether to approve plans that would allow wood to be burned in the city’s 60 beach fire rings, 10 months after fuel was limited to charcoal only to comply with South Coast Air Quality Management District rules.

The council now has four new members elected in November. After taking the oath of office at the December meeting, Councilman Scott Peotter, who represents Corona del Mar, immediately requested that the fire rings issue be placed on the Jan. 13 agenda.

According to an interim plan, Big Corona would have 20 charcoal-only rings and seven wood-burning rings. The plan also includes 15 charcoal-only rings in the West Balboa/Balboa Pier area, 10 charcoal-only rings in the East Balboa/Balboa Pier area and eight wood-burning rings in the East Balboa area.

The permanent plan would have 18 wood-burning fire rings at Big Corona, including 12 spaced 100 feet apart to comply with AQMD rules, and six rings spaced between 25 and 50 feet apart. Those rings would be farther than 700 feet from residences, the minimum distance required by the AQMD.

The Balboa Pier area would have 26 rings set 100 feet apart. Seven rings would be placed at the Newport Dunes area, and nine would be added at the Newport Pier area. Neither area currently has city fire rings.

The permanent plan would require a development permit from the California Coastal Commission, although the interim plan would not, City Manager Dave Kiff confirmed.

Currently, Big Corona has 27 rings, and the Balboa Pier has 33 rings.

Health advocates and wood-smoke opponents Frank and Barbara Peters, who live near Big Corona, said they were not surprised by news that wood might be returning to the beach fires.

The Peters have expressed concerns about serious health effects of breathing wood smoke, and although they had pushed for all rings to be removed, Frank Peters said he now believes that the charcoal-only rings are a good compromise.

“We knew this was going to come back,” he said. “This will take the rest of our lives.”

Peters said he’s reached out to City Council members, asking to meet with them to urge the status quo, charcoal only. If wood fires return, he said, wind will at times blow smoke straight into his neighborhood, damaging his and his neighbors’ health.

“It only takes one (fire),” he said, adding that spacing rings 100 feet apart won’t help.

Peters said that if the council approves the plans, he would take the fight to the California Coastal Commission.

The City Council voted in March 2012 to remove all beach fire rings. The issue went before the Coastal Commission, then caught the attention of the AQMD, which at one point proposed banning all beach fire rings in Los Angeles and Orange counties. In July 2013, the agency instead amended beach bonfire rules, including calling for the 700-foot buffer between fire rings and homes.

In November 2013, the city considered a new plan that would have removed more than half the city’s fire rings, but that plan never went before the Coastal Commission for approval.

Eventually, the City Council approved the charcoal-only rule, and city funds paid for charcoal to be given free to some beach visitors. The city, however, never obtained a coastal development permit for the charcoal-only plan, and in November, staff said the permit request was on hold.

The current City Council has only two members who voted in 2012 to remove fire rings. When asked if the existing council was likely to agree with her, Barbara Peters shrugged.

“It just depends on which way the wind is blowing,” she said.