To: Newport Beach Planning Commission
I am writing on behalf of the Frog House, in what I believe to be a most serious injustice. The Frog House has been in continuous operation in the same location since the 1960's, and should not be forced to close its doors. It is without a doubt a staple in the local surf community, and furthermore a landmark as well.
Orange County is known throughout the country, even the world, as a surfing mecca. Huntington Beach and Newport Beach alike are it's center. You'll note that the US Open of Surfing is just down the road in Huntington Beach. Even more noteworthy is the very same field of international professional surfers come to Newport Beach to surf before, during, and after the US Open.
Shops like the Frog House built the foundation on which events like the US Open stand; are even in Orange County at all. Countless surfers (locals, tourists, professionals, up-and-coming standouts alike) have at one point or another relied on the Frog House. They are engrained into the local culture. It is indeed shops like the Frog House which have bolstered the tourist and beach-related industries which make Newport Beach what it is.
Yes there is a harbor; yes there is an abundance of homes within steps of the beach. But shops like the Frog House were there in the beginning; helped shape what Newport Beach as become. Without shops like the Frog House, we're just another city along the southern California coast with the same amenities.
Newport Beach has HISTORY. Newport Beach should be PROUD of that history. The Frog House is indeed INTEGRAL to that history.
Indeed it is unfortunate that through a loophole and/or lack of enforcement of zoning regulations, an over-abundance of drug and alcohol rehab facilities have taken up root within the intended residentially zoned neighborhoods. It is also understandable that the City now wishes to stringently enforce it's zoning codes to ensure commercial enterprises, like drug and alcohol rehab centers, do not overrun our community, nor that they infringe on the overall harmony of the community.
But the Frog House was around long before these elements infringed into the residential zoned tracts. The Frog House was built and operating before the land it is now on was rezoned as residential. They are directly adjacent to existing (and please note NEWER) commercial enterprises.
This should be a simple decision. The Frog House is a pre-existing land use from before the residential rezoning occurred; since before the recent effort to remove the nonconforming drug and alcohol facilities. They should have been granted a variance based on their pre-existing usage long before they were thrown into the same lot as these nonconforming drug and alcohol rehab centers.
I recognize it is too late to grant them exemption from the act which now has them fighting for their life. We cannot undo the past. But please, do the right thing, grant the Frog House the necessary zoning variance now. Lets not forget, they are a long standing, pre-existing usage from before any residential zoning was mapped. They ARE Newport Beach.
Please vote in favor of KEEPING the Frog House.
Regards,
benjamin c ginsberg
driftwood photography studios
p: 714.699.4DWP
c: 617.775.3457
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