Editorial: City Hall site’s true owners:

Last week, the city of Newport Beach broke ground on a $128-million civic center set to open in 2012 on Avocado Avenue. And for all of the deserved attention the dawn of that project got, to say nothing of the years of debate that preceded the groundbreaking, the new construction begged this question:

What should the city do about the “old” City Hall off Newport Boulevard on the Balboa Peninsula? (Other than tear it down.)

The enviable parcel could certainly be many things, but we have to hand it to City Manager Dave Kiff and the City Council for taking a cautious approach to managing the future planning of this important 4-acre swath. The city is working closely with the two largest land owners in the Via Lido area to come up with proposals that will go before the community for review.

“No matter what happens, it’s going to be a controversial issue, so we want to make sure we have as much factual input as we can,” Councilman Mike Henn said in apt comments to the Daily Pilot.

Plenty of “factual” (and possibly less than factual) input is going to come Henn’s way when the debate about the property’s future begins in earnest. Though it’s easy to focus in on the debates that will one day ensue, let’s not forget what the city hall site really presents to all of Newport Beach: opportunity.

Whether the land is used for the park so many residents want to see, private development, or some combination of uses, we want to see land in public hands be used in a way that best serves its true owners, the public. Selling part of the property to help with budget issues and developing other parcels from public uses may also be in taxpayers’ interest, but we hope a good amount of land ends up in public hands.

We also caution the city to consider the area’s density and heavy traffic in the planning process. The Peninsula certainly could use a little more elbow room and open space. Whatever is built, we hope that it becomes a landmark worthy of this gorgeous location.