Corona del Mar's Coast Highway Plan Is Really About the Hours After Dinner
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
Newport Beach planners have drafted a closing time for evenings on the 1.27 miles of East Coast Highway between Avocado Avenue and Hazel Drive. Under the draft rules, outdoor patios and live entertainment would stop at 9 p.m. unless a business goes through a public hearing to stay open later.
That cutoff sits at the center of the Corona del Mar Commercial Corridor Land Use and Mobility Study. Most of the draft makes it easier to open the kind of restaurant that closes early. Anything that keeps a patio busy late, or lets a band play past nine, would still be reviewed one business at a time, and neighbors could weigh in at a hearing. For anyone who walks to dinner on Coast Highway, the daytime village would get easier to open businesses in, while the late evening would still be decided case by case.
The study isn't new. Then-Mayor Pro Tem Lauren Kleiman asked for a land use and parking study of the corridor in August 2023. City staff and the consultant Dudek started work in June 2024. The City Council backed every recommendation at a study session on November 4, 2025, and formally started the code amendments on February 10, 2026.
The most recent step was a Planning Commission study session on September 17, 2026. The staff report says plainly that no action would be taken that night. The amendments still have to return for a noticed Planning Commission public hearing, and the City Council makes the final decision. As of mid-October, the city hadn't published a date for either hearing.
So nothing on the zoning side has changed yet. The draft does show what the evening rules would look like.
The staff report starts from a plain observation: outdoor dining along the corridor "is present, but not widespread." The proposals treat a business very differently depending on when it plans to close.
| Type of business | Approval today | Proposed under the CdM overlay |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant closing by 11 p.m. | Minor Use Permit from the Zoning Administrator | Minor Use Permit reviewed by the Director of Community Development, still publicly noticed and appealable |
| Outdoor patio or live entertainment past 9 p.m. | Not a separate standard today | Requires the Zoning Administrator process, including a public hearing |
| Restaurant open late | Conditional Use Permit from the Planning Commission | Minor Use Permit from the Zoning Administrator |
| Wine bar or tasting room | No category of its own | New "Wine Bar" use, with a Minor Use Permit from the Zoning Administrator |
| Drive-through | Minor Use Permit | Prohibited |
The 9 p.m. standard came out of the community meetings. Staff wrote that residents had raised concerns about how outdoor dining fits with the neighborhoods behind the highway, so one objective standard would limit patio hours to 9 p.m. daily. Live entertainment would have to stay indoors and end by the same hour. The staff report explains how a business would get past that limit:
"if an Applicant would like to extend hours of their live entertainment or outdoor dining patio past 9 p.m., then the typical Zoning Administrator process would apply, and residents would have the opportunity to provide comment as part of a public hearing."
The proposed wine bar category comes with its own limits. Staff suggested operating standards such as capping pour sizes, requiring a food menu, or limiting which Alcoholic Beverage Control license types qualify. A tasting room would have a clearer path to opening on Coast Highway than it does today, and it would still operate under those added standards.
The proposed overlay would allow homes above the ground floor of commercial buildings, but not on the ground floor. The height limits and setbacks would stay the same as the current commercial standards. Staff also proposed a cap of 30 homes across the entire overlay area.
Anyone living above a Coast Highway restaurant would be closest to whatever happens on its patio after nine. The housing idea has also drawn the most debate. The Daily Pilot reported from the November 2025 council session that staff said the housing recommendation hadn't won favor with the broader community during outreach. In the same session, Councilmember Noah Blom supported it, and Mayor Pro Tem Kleiman said changes were needed but concerns had to be addressed.
Public comment at the September 17 session, which the city posted as a meeting recording, focused on the same concerns: later hours, more intensive alcohol service, spillover parking on the side streets, and traffic in peak season. On the commission, Commissioner Jonathan Langford said he was supportive of all four land use proposals. Commissioner Mark Rosene said any lot consolidation incentives should depend on the residential part of a project providing its own parking. When asked, staff said the draft doesn't set a maximum on how many lots can be combined, and that the commission could suggest one.
Parking money came up as well. A monthly in-lieu parking fee is still being studied, and commissioners objected to charging restaurants for improvements that everyone shares. That matches what the city heard at the August 12, 2025 open house, which drew 77 people. Leasing private lots for public parking got the most support of the parking options listed, and the in-lieu fee leaned toward unsupported.
The zoning is still in draft, but some physical changes from the study's program list are already moving. In order:
The city also tested a phone app for finding parking in the study area. Staff reported it "did not ultimately meet the City's objectives," and other technology options are still being explored.
Message signs at the curb and a signalized crossing at Orchid could be under construction by year's end, before any of the evening rules reach a hearing.
Businesses aren't waiting on the code. The Orange County Register reported in September that Chef Michael Campbell's White Rooster is planned for 2931 East Coast Highway, in the space left by the closed Mayur Cuisine of India. At that point, the opening was slated for late October or early November. WhatNow reported that the second location will serve a "Comida Californiana" menu across brunch, lunch, happy hour and dinner.
Under the current rules or the draft ones, a restaurant like that would answer the same question about how late it serves.
The next public explanation of the study comes before any formal hearing. On Thursday, November 12, the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce's monthly Good Morning CdM runs from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club, 1601 Bayside Drive. City planners Joselyn Perez and Liz Westmoreland will present the corridor study, and Councilmember Robyn Grant, District 4, will give city updates. It's free, no RSVP is required, the lot has free parking, and coffee and pastries are provided.
After that, the evening calendar fills up:
This is general information about proposals that are still in draft, not legal advice. Business and property owners should check the details of any permit with the City of Newport Beach Planning Division.
If you own property along the corridor or on the streets just behind it and want to talk through how a 9 p.m. patio limit or upstairs residential units could affect your block, Zach Mickelson is following this study through its next hearings. Book an appointment and we'll go through the draft together before the Planning Commission sets a date.
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