Corona del Mar Today: City’s charcoal application on hold

The city of Newport Beach’s coastal development permit for charcoal-only fire rings is on hold, a city spokeswoman confirmed.

“It’s on hold because we likely won’t pursue the current application until getting further direction from the next City Council,” Tara Finnigan said in an email.

In December, four new City Council members will be sworn in: Scott Peotter, Diane Dixon, Marshall “Duffy” Duffield and Kevin Muldoon. Current Council members Mike Henn, Leslie Daigle and Nancy Gardner will term out, and Mayor Rush Hill lost to Duffield.

During their campaigns, Muldoon, Duffield and Peotter said they supported wood-burning fire rings. And current Councilman Tony Petros was not on the council when it voted to remove the rings, although he did support a charcoal-only option.

Newport Beach implemented the charcoal-only rule in March in order to comply with South Coast Air Quality Management District rule amendments on beach fire rings, but city staff agreed to work with the Coastal Commission staff on obtaining a permit for the program. The city submitted its 50-page application on July 17.

In August, however, the Coastal Commission staff sent a three-page letter to the city, requesting more information, including data on air quality and health impacts from charcoal smoke, whether data had been gathered about how fire ring users’ experience with charcoal compared to wood, charcoal availability and the dates of the proposed pilot program.

In October, city staff said they hoped to have the application complete and resubmitted by mid-October. A Coastal Commission staff member confirmed that no new information had been submitted, and that the application had not been withdrawn.

The new council members will be sworn Dec. 9. New business will likely wait until a meeting in January.

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Write to Santa at Crown Ace Hardware

It’s never too early to write a letter to Santa, and at Crown Ace Hardware in Corona del Mar, there’s a North Pole Express Mailbox waiting for your notes.

Kids who drop off a letter to Santa1, including a stamped, self-addressed envelope, by Dec. 1 will receive a reply from Santa himself, according to a company email.

The store at 3107 East Coast Highway has a desk, along with envelopes and papers, so kids can write their letters while at the store, and stamps are available at the register.

This is the third year the store has hosted the North Pole Express service. In previous years, more than 1,000 letters were sent, with hundreds of responses from the “North Pole.”

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City to host Breakfast with Santa event

For the second year, Newport Beach will host a Breakfast with Santa event from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Dec. 5.

The breakfast costs $15 per person, and children under 2 are free, according to the Newport Navigator. The event will take place at the Newport Coast Community Center at 6401 San Joaquin Hills Road. The breakfast will include crafts and photos.

For more information on the event, call (949) 270-8100, or you can register online here.

Newport Beach used to hold annual Winter Wonderland events, which cost about $32,000 and brought artificial snow to a city park, but those events were suspended in 2011 due to budget cuts. The same year, the city cut its annual Easter egg hunt event as well.