The proposed rules for Corona del Mar's stretch of Coast Highway would allow at most 30 homes along the entire corridor. That is roughly 1.27 miles of village, from Avocado Avenue to Hazel Avenue. The city's study of that corridor started in summer 2024. It became a package of proposed code changes when the City Council formally began the General Plan, Local Coastal Program and Municipal Code amendments on February 10, 2026.
The package is cautious about buildings and much bolder about what happens inside them. Its main target is the village's mix of businesses. For anyone who walks to Coast Highway for coffee, errands or dinner, that change matters more than the 30-unit cap.
A main street that closes at five
The city's draft Corridor Atlas describes how the corridor works today. Most ground-floor space is commercial and leans toward neighborhood goods and services such as banks, salons and fitness studios. Those uses make up 54% of the mix. Food and beverage, the uses the Atlas says can bring the area to life outside 9-to-5 hours, are the smallest share of retail at 26%.
The buildings are just as modest. Most are one story, with some two- and three-story exceptions such as Port Plaza and the New Port Theater. The Atlas says there is room for about three stories north of Coast Highway and two stories south of it. Parcels are small and often irregular in shape, which the Atlas says makes redevelopment difficult. Two city-owned lots, the Old School Park Lot and the Bayside Drive Lot, sit behind the buildings that face Coast Highway.
In an October 7, 2025 community presentation, city staff gave the reasons for the study. The village's zoning framework was outdated, private investment was limited, the floor area ratio was low and parking requirements were high. Each of those barriers falls harder on a restaurant than on a bank branch, and that explains where the proposals focus.
Why the housing number stops at 30
Newport Beach has an unusual rule. Under Section 423 of the City Charter, the city tracks increases in development limits approved through General Plan amendments for ten years. An amendment becomes a "major amendment," decided by a citywide vote, if it exceeds any of these thresholds:
- 100 dwelling units
- 40,000 square feet of non-residential development
- 100 AM peak-hour traffic trips
- 100 PM peak-hour traffic trips
The test applies to the amendment on its own, or to the amendment combined with 80% of earlier approved amendments in the same Statistical Area. The city publishes its Section 423 tracking tables and a statistical area map.
At the September 17, 2026 Planning Commission study session, the corridor's 30-unit and square-footage caps were described as analysis figures tied to General Plan amendment thresholds, set so they would not trigger an election. That account comes from Citizen Portal's AI-generated meeting summary. The same summary says staff called the 30 units a corridor-wide limit for limited mixed-use.
Section 423 has shaped city planning before. The Housing Element FAQ describes the July 23, 2024 meeting where the Council decided state law ruled out a Section 423 vote on the Housing Element rezoning. Those amendments were adopted without one. The corridor plan has no state mandate behind it. Without one, the simplest way to keep the decision with the Planning Commission and the Council is to stay well under the thresholds.
The density incentive is small too. According to the meeting summary, parcels that combine through lot consolidation could go from today's floor area ratio of 0.75 to 1.0. Staff described these incentives as optional and still subject to review and compatibility findings.
Where the plan does reach: the restaurant permit
With the building envelope barely moving, the proposals concentrate on what a storefront can become and how quickly it can get there. The September package included a Corona del Mar zoning overlay and director-level minor use permits meant to make it easier for smaller restaurants to get approved.
The October 2025 draft land use table shows what that streamlining could look like. These were draft proposals at the time and have not been adopted.
| Use | Existing zoning | October 2025 draft proposal |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant, no late hours | Permitted or Minor Use Permit | Permitted with Director Level Review |
| Fast casual, no drive-thru or alcohol | Permitted or Minor Use Permit | Permitted with Director Level Review |
| Restaurant with late hours, live entertainment or dancing | Conditional Use Permit | Minor Use Permit |
| Outdoor dining | Use Permit Amendment or Administrative Permit | Permitted until 9 p.m., Director Level after 9 p.m. |
| Wine tasting room, accessory to retail | Not allowed | Minor Use Permit |
| Residential, second or third floor | Not allowed | Permitted |
The same draft would stop new automobile uses such as rental, washing, repair and drive-thrus, while letting existing ones like the tire shop stay. New animal boarding and kennels would not be allowed. The draft also proposed requiring no parking for new or expanded retail, restaurants, fast-casual spots and outdoor dining, with other parking standards unchanged. The meeting summary describes the September version as "targeted parking changes," so the final wording is still to come.
To show the outdoor dining it wants more of, the presentation used photos of sidewalk tables at Rothschild's, Bungalow and Avila's. It also listed mapping spots where outdoor dining fits on public property and identifying sections that could take sidewalk extensions.
Parking is where the plan meets the most resistance
Moving dinner traffic onto a state highway raises an obvious question. At the August 2025 open house, the city asked residents and business owners to rate parking ideas. Leasing private lots got the strongest result, "More Supportive." The city's presentation pointed to bank and office lots that sit unused at peak hours. An in-lieu parking fee was the only idea in that group rated "Somewhat Unsupportive."
Even so, the in-lieu fee was still in the package in September, now framed as optional. According to the meeting summary, commissioners asked how the fee would be designed and enforced, how residential parking would work in any mixed-use project, how lot consolidation would be limited, and whether auto-oriented businesses that no longer fit the new rules could move elsewhere in the corridor. Staff was asked to refine the fee, consider coastal review limits and bring back peak-period traffic and parking data.
The summary says public comments focused on parking shortages, traffic on Pacific Coast Highway, safety, outreach and keeping the village's small-scale character. Commenters warned that incentives for larger restaurants and lot consolidation could push out legacy small businesses.
Staff said parking would be handled together with mobility measures, including a trolley extension and dynamic signage. The 2025 draft described this as expanding the local trolley to run year-round with new stops on Coast Highway. For now, the Balboa Peninsula Trolley is a summer weekend service. In 2026 it ran from May 23 through September 7, with 22 stops on the Peninsula.
The street itself has its own list. The 2025 draft included intersection work at MacArthur and at Orchid, bulb-outs, high-visibility crosswalks and a bike route from the Fifth Avenue path. It also floated lowering PCH from 35 to 30 mph, which drew a "Neutral" rating at the open house.
What happens next, and where to hear it firsthand
The September 17 meeting was a study session only, so no action was taken. The steps from here:
- Staff returns with drafted amendments. These address the questions commissioners raised and include more outreach.
- A Planning Commission public hearing. The commission takes public comment and makes a recommendation to the City Council.
- City Council consideration.
- California Coastal Commission review of the portions in the coastal zone, which need Local Coastal Program amendments.
No dates have been set for any of these. The nearest chance to hear from the planners is Good Morning CdM, organized by the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce, on Thursday, November 12, from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club, 1601 Bayside Drive. Principal Planners Joselyn Perez and Liz Westmoreland will cover the proposed zoning recommendations and next steps. The event is free, needs no RSVP and has free lot parking. Details are on the Chamber's event page. The city also keeps an interest list on its project page.
Before the zoning arrives, the corridor's own calendar continues. Sherman Library & Gardens is open during its renovation, with the entrance temporarily on Dahlia Avenue. Its planned farm-to-table restaurant, Hazeltine's, is now listed for Fall 2027. The Chamber's free 47th Christmas Walk fills Pacific Coast Highway through the village on December 6, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. This summer's look at the village calendar covered the warmer-month version, and more on the neighborhood is on our Corona del Mar page.
This post describes proposals that are still being reviewed. It is general information, not legal advice. If you own property on the corridor, confirm how any final rules apply to your parcel with the City of Newport Beach Planning Division or your own attorney.
If you own on or near Coast Highway and want to talk through what a change in the village's restaurant and parking rules could mean for your property, Leslie Thompson is glad to go over it with you. Schedule a private consultation.
