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Corona del Mar Today: Candidates square off at CdM forum

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Seven candidates vying for Newport Beach City Council seats met Thursday morning at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for a 90-minute candidates’ forum sponsored by the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee.

Corona del Mar District 6 candidates Michael Toerge and Scott Peotter attended the forum, as well as unopposed District 1 candidate Diane Dixon, District 4 candidates Timothy Brown, Roy Englebrecht and Kevin Muldoon and District 3 candidate Mayor Rush Hill. District 3 candidate Marshall “Duffy” Duffield did not attend.

Each candidate had a chance to make opening remarks, then Dixon sat out during a seven-question session that covered topics including the candidates’ positions on Measure Y, which would amend the land-use element of the city’s General Plan. All the candidates, except for Englebrecht, said they supported the measure.

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Engelbrecht also was the only candidate who made bold suggestions during the event. Corona del Mar parking, he said, could be improved by inviting visitors to park in the Big Corona Beach lot, then offering a shuttle to the business district.

The shuttle, he said, would be similar to the one that transports visitors from the Los Trancos lot in Crystal Cove State Park to the Historic District, and the Corona del Mar shuttle could be offered free to visitors who make purchases in town. He also suggested creating an event that could take place four times a year in Corona del Mar, shutting down East Coast Highway between Poppy Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard.

“We need people to stop in Corona del Mar and Coast Highway and see what we’re all about,” he said. “That’s what we need to make people come to Corona del Mar and see what it’s all about … Big ideas, not big money.”

Parking is a hot topic in Corona del Mar, and the current City Council this week criticized a proposed parking plan.

Corona del Mar candidate Toerge said he thinks the parking code should be revisited for Corona del Mar, and that businesses should develop a shared valet-parking system.

Employee parking, he said, also needs improvement.

“We need to get the employee parking off the streets,” he said.

Muldoon said he thought a no-fee permit program for residents should be considered, and Corona del Mar candidate Peotter said restaurant parking requirements might be too stringent.

“Let’s face it,” he said. “Most of us who live in Corona del Mar, we walk to restaurants, we don’t need parking spots.”

The election will take place Nov. 4.

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Pyrosomes brighten shoreline

About 100 pyrosomes washed onto the beach at Big Corona Sept. 9, something not been seen before in Corona del Mar, a city expert said.

“Pyrosoma is a glow-in-the-dark pelagic tunicate,” Michelle Clemente, a Newport Beach marine education supervisor, said in an email. “Although it is not uncommon to our waters … no one around here has ever seen it!”

According to the JelliesZone website, the creatures typically inhabit tropical waters and some will grow to 4 meters long.

“Pyrosoma atlanticum is one of the few pyrosomes that visits the temperate West Coast,” the website states.

Clemente said the creatures migrate vertically, meaning they move up and down the water column, as opposed to back and forth.

“It’s very cool,” she said.

The creatures on the beach were about three-fourths of an inch in diameter and 4 to 5 inches long, said Ron Yeo, a Corona del Mar resident.

All the pyrosomes were dead and “past the glowy stage,” Clemente said.

Recent big swells and warm water probably caused them to wash ashore, she said.

The creatures won’t hurt beach visitors.

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Council delays decision on CdM parking

Proposed plans to improve parking in the Corona del Mar business district are going back to the drawing board.

The Newport Beach City Council’s comments on a proposed Corona del Mar parking plan were so negative at an afternoon Study Session on Tuesday that staff decided to work on the plan further, pulling the item back before a vote at a later meeting.

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New pool locker room project complete

Corona del Mar High School’s aquatics facility has a new locker room, a project fundraising volunteer said in an email.

“Aquatics’ athletes moved in last week,” said Angela Kraus, who helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the new facility.

Construction began late in 2013. Funding for the project came from several sources, including more than $400,000 in community donations, nearly $350,000 from the city of Newport Beach and more than $500,000 from state and district sources. The new 3,000-square-foot building has restrooms, showers and more than 150 lockers.

A formal ceremony to unveil the facility will take place at 2 p.m. Oct. 7.

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Cyclist arrested in water bottle spat

A 47-year-old Newport Beach man was arrested last week after a confrontation with a motorist in the 800 block of Avocado Avenue over a thrown water bottle, police said.

The man was arrested at 11:43 a.m. Sunday, a report said. He also was booked on felony vandalism, and his bail was $20,000.

“The victim alleges that the arrestee (a bicyclist) threw a water bottle at her vehicle, causing damage to the driver’s door, while she was turning from Coast Highway onto MacArthur Boulevard,” said police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella in an email.

The victim followed the cyclist to a coffee shop, where he refused to speak with her, Manzella said.

“Security at the shopping center contacted the Police Department after the two involved parties began arguing,” she said.

The cyclist denied involvement, and the victim requested “a private person’s arrest,” Manzella said.

The man is not in jail, according to online jail logs.

Corona del Mar Today appears Sunday in the Daily Pilot. Read daily updates at coronadelmartoday.com.

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