Newport Beach voters might soon decide whether they’ll get a new surf park or keep their existing golf course next to John Wayne Airport after a coalition of residents submitted nearly 10,000 signatures trying to put the issue on the ballot.
Their push comes after city council members unanimously voted to move ahead with the surf park in October, cutting the existing golf course in half as they said they didn’t want to stand in the way of a private business’ goals.
[Read: Newport Beach Approves Gutting Golf Course, Making Way for New Surf Park]
There were also many residents and surfing enthusiasts who spoke out in favor of the project at that meeting, noting it would give people more space to train on days when the waves just weren’t there.
But that move faced pushback from the county airport commission, which had some safety concerns, and some residents who wanted to keep the golf course where it is under the Save Newport Beach Golf Course group.
Back Bay Barrels, the company behind the project, did not respond to requests for comment.
Benny Hallock, the group’s chairman, called the city council “tone deaf” in a Thursday statement, encouraging them to either drop the project or let the people decide.
“Developers plan to bulldoze the Newport Beach Golf Course for a 15-acre, 10-million-gallon fake wave pool just minutes from the best surf beaches in California,” Hallock wrote. “We rolled up our sleeves and went to work collecting the signatures in 30 days that included severe weather and Thanksgiving weekend.”
While the 9,660 signatures have not yet been verified, they only need 6,118 valid signatures from voters to make it to the ballot.
It’s unclear how the petition was funded, with the group’s website and press release all citing a campaign finance account created in July that has not yet had to file any disclosure of its donors.
It’s also not the only ballot initiative that could be going before voters in the Nov. 2026 election.
Another group of residents has already qualified a separate initiative for the ballot that would rewrite the city’s housing plan, massively cutting down the amount of land zoned for housing.
[Read: Newport Beach Voters to Decide on Taking Control of City’s Housing Plan]
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.