Why Corona del Mar's Coast Highway Has So Few Places to Linger, and What the City's Plan Would Change

Corona del Mar's commercial strip has fewer restaurants than its foot traffic would support, and the main reason is a parking ratio. Under Newport Beach's code, a restaurant needs one off-street space for every 100 square feet. Many of the older buildings along East Coast Highway can only take tenants that need one space per 250 square feet. Barbers, nail salons and offices fit under that limit. Most restaurants don't. The city's fix, presented to the Planning Commission on September 17, 2026, doesn't try to bring big restaurants to the corridor. It's built around small ones.

The Strip by the Numbers

The study area runs about 1.27 miles along the commercial corridor, from Avocado Avenue to Hazel Avenue. The city hired the consulting firm Dudek, which produced a Corridor Atlas of existing conditions. Its data shows heavy, steady visitor traffic on a strip with relatively few places to eat or drink.

The Daily Pilot covered the City Council study session in November 2025. It reported that the corridor is mostly neighborhood goods and services, such as barbershops, nail salons and real estate offices. It also quoted the city's principal planner, Liz Westmoreland, on the food and drink figure:

"That's pretty low. When we look at other successful main streets, we typically…see the food and beverage [businesses] have closer to a third or even half."

The study looked at three comparable main streets: 2nd Street in Belmont Shore, Main Street in Santa Monica, and the HIP District on Coast Highway in Laguna Beach. Each is a coastal-zone strip no more than a mile long with buildings of three stories or less. The city found that evening uses like restaurants and wine tasting rooms are "essential to the success of main streets."

The Rule That Picks the Tenant

According to the September staff report, property and business owners in Corona del Mar have "repeatedly expressed frustration" with parking minimums and call them the biggest barrier to reinvestment. The problem starts with the buildings themselves. Most corridor properties went up before modern parking rules. Most businesses on the strip count as nonconforming because they don't have enough off-street parking.

Here is how that plays out when a storefront goes up for lease:

1. A building with nonconforming parking can take a new tenant without adding spaces, as long as the new use needs no more than one space per 250 square feet.
2. A full-service restaurant needs one space per 100 square feet, the rate set by Ordinance No. 2023-6.
3. To make the switch, the owner has to add parking, get a Director waiver that covers up to 20% of the requirement, or apply for a Conditional Use Permit.
4. Staff wrote that the CUP route brings "risk, cost, and timing considerations." In practice, that keeps owners from leasing to restaurants.

The same math caps building size. Any added floor area means more required parking, so many properties never reach the 0.75 floor area ratio they're allowed. The lots are small and oddly shaped, so a building can't easily add a parking lot. When a storefront turns over, the tenants who can move in without new parking are the same kinds of businesses already on the street.

Why the City Settled on 20 Seats

The proposal has changed during the study. A community presentation dated October 7, 2025 proposed requiring no parking at all for new or expanded retail, restaurants, fast-casual restaurants and outdoor dining. The September 2026 staff report replaced that with a narrower plan.

Staff also considered dropping the parking rate for all restaurants to one space per 250 square feet. They decided that would conflict with the 2023 citywide update. Instead, they want to amend an existing category, "take-out service, fast-casual." That category already uses the 250-square-foot rate and allows up to 20 seats. It currently bans alcohol and requires a higher level of review for hours past 11 p.m. The proposal removes both limits. Under the new rules, a restaurant with 20 seats or fewer could serve wine, stay open late, and move into a building with nonconforming parking.

Larger restaurants would get a different option. Staff wants to bring back the city's in-lieu parking fee, so a restaurant owner could pay into the fund instead of paying for a parking study and possibly a public hearing. This route would also let a restaurant of any size turn private parking spaces into an outdoor patio. That request came up often during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent openings on the strip have included a takeout-focused format. In July 2025, the Daily Pilot reported that chef Jason Yamaguchi had opened Konpa Nikkei at 3333 East Coast Highway. At the time, it was open Thursday through Monday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Because the proposed parking relief only applies to restaurants of 20 seats or fewer, most of the new restaurants it brings would be small. Large dining rooms would still face the higher parking rate or the in-lieu fee.

What Changes After Dinner

Approvals would also get faster. Right now, a restaurant that closes by 11 p.m. needs a Minor Use Permit from the Zoning Administrator. Under the proposal, the Director of Community Development would review that permit against written standards. Neighbors would still get notice, and they could still appeal to the Zoning Administrator. Staff noted that most restaurants in Corona del Mar border residential zoning, which is why so many of them need a permit in the first place.

Residents raised concerns during outreach about outdoor dining so close to their homes. The draft standards respond to that:

• Outdoor patios would close at 9 p.m. daily.
• Live entertainment would have to be indoors and end by 9 p.m.
• A restaurant that wants later patio or music hours would go through the Zoning Administrator, including a public hearing where residents can comment.
• Late-hour restaurants would need a Minor Use Permit from the Zoning Administrator, replacing the Conditional Use Permit from the Planning Commission.
• A new "Wine Bar" category would need a Minor Use Permit. Possible standards include limits on pour sizes and a required food menu.
• Bars, lounges and nightclubs would still need a CUP from the Planning Commission.

Today, the code treats a wine bar the same as a bar, lounge or nightclub, which means a full CUP. The looser permit rules would apply only in Corona del Mar, through a new overlay district. The stricter changes would go into the base commercial zoning, so they would also cover nine commercially zoned properties on Newport Boulevard. Under those changes, new drive-thrus, limited vehicle and equipment repair, car washes and animal boarding would be banned. Service stations would stay allowed, since East Coast Highway is a major road.

Where the Cars Go

More restaurant seats without more parking only works if the existing spaces get used better. The study found the corridor has enough parking overall, but too much of it sits in private lots. Some of the mobility work is already done:

• June 2026: A digital sign went up at the top of the Main Beach ramp. It shows how many spaces are open in the Corona del Mar State Beach lots.
• By the end of 2026: Staff plans to start installing two dynamic message signs on East Coast Highway. They'll show parking availability and closures.
• In progress: The city is working with property owners on pilot programs for leasing private lots and for valet service in the public right-of-way.
• Tried and dropped: The city tested a parking app, but it didn't meet the city's goals.

Money from the revived in-lieu fee wouldn't go toward a parking structure. It would pay for leasing private lots for public use and for supporting a year-round trolley to Corona del Mar. Staff suggested charging the fee monthly to make it easier on restaurant operators. There's also a new incentive. An owner who consolidates or removes a driveway, creating new street spaces on Coast Highway, would earn credit toward their own parking requirement at a 2:1 ratio.

The city dropped two ideas. Parking meters had no support from the community or businesses. An employee shuttle to remote lots at Fashion Island or City Hall drew no interest from business owners.

Public comment has also covered street safety. At the November 2025 session, Jim Walker, owner of the Bungalow Restaurant, asked for safety upgrades along the corridor. The Daily Pilot reported he said the retaining wall outside his restaurant, about 15 inches high, was "not, in my opinion, adequate." Improved intersections and crosswalks, sidewalk extensions and bulbouts are part of the public-improvements package.

What Is Still Undecided

None of this is law yet. The City Council started the formal amendment process on February 10, 2026. The Planning Commission took no action at the September 17 study session. The amendments will come back for a noticed public hearing, then go to the City Council. They aren't on the published October 22 Planning Commission notice. In November 2025, the Daily Pilot reported that the recommendations could start taking effect as early as late 2026. As of mid-October, no hearing date has been set.

Staff asked commissioners twelve questions. These are the ones most likely to change what the strip looks like:

1. Should there be a new small-scale restaurant type, capped at 20 seats and allowed to serve alcohol late, with a parking rate of one space per 250 square feet?
2. Should the city waive all restaurant parking requirements by creating a parking management district instead?
3. Should there be limited housing above shops, capped at 30 units across the corridor, plus 18,700 square feet of new non-residential space?
4. Should combined lots be allowed to build up to a floor area ratio of 1.0, up from 0.75?
5. Should nonconforming businesses be allowed to relocate to another property in the study area with a CUP?

Housing has drawn the most debate. During outreach, the idea of apartments above businesses didn't win broad community support. Councilmember Noah Blom spoke in favor of it. Mayor Pro Tem Lauren Kleiman said a commitment had been made to drop the residential recommendations. The September draft brings housing back with limits. Homes would be allowed only above the first floor, with a 30-unit cap. The Corona del Mar Residents' Association got briefings on July 17, 2025 and again on April 4, 2026. Its members will likely follow the next hearing closely.

The staff report and the hearing schedule will show whether the 20-seat category survives as drafted. If it does, the next storefront to turn over on East Coast Highway could open as a wine bar or a small evening restaurant with its patio closing at 9 p.m.

If you own property in Corona del Mar, rules like these can change what nearby storefronts become. That affects how the streets around them feel and how buyers value them. Kent Martin Group follows Newport Beach planning actions alongside sales data, and we're glad to walk through what the corridor proposals could mean for your block. You can also start with a free home valuation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.