Police Headquarters

The City Council confirmed this roster on June 23, 2026, as the membership of the Police Headquarters Advisory Committee. CONFIRMEDCity Council action, June 23, 2026[7] The City received 31 applications for the four resident seats. CONFIRMEDCity Council staff report, June 23, 2026, Agenda Item No. 20[17]

At its July 21, 2026 meeting, the Police Headquarters Advisory Committee voted 5-0 to recommend that the City Council cease expending further staff time and resources studying the 870 Santa Barbara Drive site. Vice Chair Noah Blom made the motion; Councilmember Michelle Barto seconded it. Chair Sara Weber clarified the motion was to stop spending resources at this time, not to permanently foreclose future consideration of the site. CONFIRMEDAdvisory Committee meeting minutes, July 21, 2026 (Attachment A, Sept 2, 2026 agenda packet) [21]

The committee cited operational constraints identified in prior council review. The motion means the three Santa Barbara Drive rebuild and renovation options shown in the site comparison below are no longer under active study by the committee.

This item was previewed in the City's “From City Hall to You” newsletter, received and published by Stu News Newport on July 17, 2026. REPORTEDCity newsletter content as carried by Stu News Newport, July 17, 2026[16]

• The current Santa Barbara Drive building is 49,284 sq ft, built in 1973, and received a 2021 Facilities Condition Assessment rating of "Fair."
• Since the 2021 assessment, recent system failures include sewer backups, electrical/fire concerns, and a generator switchgear failure.
• The building does not meet current seismic standards for "essential" facilities (police, fire, hospitals).
• Only about 20% of the building's interior space has natural light.
• The facility was not designed for modern policing technology needs — data storage, servers, secure networks, and body-worn camera / digital evidence storage.

CONFIRMEDCity of Newport Beach — March 10, 2026 Council Planning Session, Item No. 2 (Public Works staff presentation)[13]

"Should the City continue investing in major system upgrades in a building at the end of its useful life?"

Posed verbatim by Public Works staff to the City Council at the March 10, 2026 Planning Session. CONFIRMEDMarch 10, 2026 Council Planning Session, Item No. 2[13]

1. Jul 28, 2026

   Council approves Civic Center Park consultant contracts

   The City Council approved consultant contracts tied to the Civic Center Park site. The City’s own “On the Agenda” preview for the July 28, 2026 meeting confirms the three contracts — an agreement for the project’s architectural team, an environmental consultant, and a public outreach and communications consultant — were on the Council agenda. The same preview also confirms the meeting included the 1300 Dove Street Townhome Project (132-unit, for-sale residential) as a separate item. CONFIRMEDCity of Newport Beach City Manager's Office "Insider's Guide" / "On the Agenda" preview [20] Approximately $1,524,410 is currently funded and authorized to proceed: LPA, Inc. Phase 1a conceptual design ($713,080), EPD Solutions SEIR ($346,330), Westbound Communications outreach ($315,000), and an LSA Associates on-call agreement amendment for related biological survey work ($150,000). CONFIRMEDCity Council Staff Report, July 28, 2026, Agenda Item Nos. 18, 19, 20[19] The full potential contract ceiling, if all future phases are authorized, is approximately $13,121,150 — driven primarily by LPA, Inc.'s total not-to-exceed architectural contract of $12,459,820 (covering Phase 1a design through final construction documents and construction support, most of which requires separate future City Council authorization), plus EPD Solutions ($346,330) and Westbound Communications ($315,000). CONFIRMEDCity Council Staff Report, July 28, 2026, Agenda Item Nos. 18, 19, 20[19]
   
   These two figures are not in conflict — they answer different questions. $1,524,410 is what is funded and authorized now; $13,121,150 is the total possible size of the contracts if every future phase were to be fully exercised. Councilmember Robyn Grant opposed all three of the originally reported contracts, and Councilmember Joe Stapleton joined her in opposing only the communications contract. REPORTEDHoodline report citing the Los Angeles Times [18]

   CONFIRMEDcontract approvals and agenda presence confirmed by City sources; dollar figures and vote-dissent details reported by Hoodline/LA Times
2. Jul 21, 2026
   Second meeting of the Advisory Committee, focused on evaluating rebuilding at the current Santa Barbara Drive site (per Chair Weber's direction at the July 7 meeting).

   CONFIRMEDofficial agenda
3. Jul 7, 2026

   First Advisory Committee meeting

   CONFIRMEDofficial agenda First meeting of the Advisory Committee, held in the Civic Center Community Room. Unlike other recent City committees (e.g., the General Plan Advisory Committee, the Lower Castaways and Aquatic Facility Committee), this meeting was not video recorded for public posting.
   
   REPORTEDdrawn from written meeting materials, not a recording or transcript Resident member Sandy Meadows was absent. The committee received staff briefings on the history of the City’s past police stations and the current headquarters’ operational needs. Chair Sara Weber set the July 21 meeting’s focus on evaluating rebuilding at the current Santa Barbara Drive site. Committee member Paul Watkins raised questions about financing plans and ground-lease options for the Santa Barbara and Dove Street properties, and asked that the 12 Corporate Plaza site be reconsidered. Committee member Tom Maloney recommended staff attend an International Association of Chiefs of Police training on planning, designing, and constructing police facilities. [11]

   CONFIRMEDmeeting occurred per agenda; discussion details are REPORTED from written materials
4. Jun 9, 2026

   Adopted Capital Improvement Program funding

   The City’s adopted Capital Improvement Program sets aside $1.5 million in the current fiscal year for further study of the Civic Center Park site, $15 million in FY2027–2028 for final design, and $146 million in FY2028–2029 for award of a construction contract. This timeline has been moved up by roughly three years compared to the prior CIP. No explanation for the acceleration has been located in the CIP documents themselves; if a source is later confirmed, this will be updated. [21] [12]

   CONFIRMEDCity Council Resolution No. 2026-40, adopted June 9, 2026
5. Jun 1, 2026
   Resident-member application deadline.

   CONFIRMED
6. May 13, 2026

   Speak Up Newport forum exchange

   Former Mayor Keith Curry presented a detailed case against the Civic Center Park site at a Speak Up Newport public forum. Per the Stu News Newport columnist's account, Councilmember Blom's response was reported as "Everything Keith said is wrong," with no further explanation given. Watch the full exchange: Speak Up Newport, May 13, 2026. [9] [10] This quote is sourced to a single columnist's account, not an official transcript or recording.

   STATEDcolumnist's account; primary event page available
7. May 12, 2026

   Council transitions to a new Police Headquarters Advisory Committee

   The City Council unanimously approved transitioning from the prior council-only Assessment Committee to a new Police Headquarters Advisory Committee: 3 councilmembers plus 4 resident members — one with construction / real estate development / architecture / land-use experience, one with real estate financing experience, and two at-large seats with no specialized requirement — to evaluate location, design, and budget and recommend back to the full council. Resident applications closed June 1, 2026, and a committee meeting was scheduled for July 21, 2026.

   CONFIRMEDCity Council action & resident-committee announcement, May 12, 2026
8. Mar 10, 2026
   City Council held a study session. Council unanimously agreed the current headquarters (built 1973) needs replacing, citing plumbing, electrical, and infrastructure issues. The Civic Center sculpture garden site emerged as a leading candidate (estimated ~$162 million), though no final site decision was made. Staff was directed to continue evaluation through design work, environmental review, cost analysis, and public input.

   CONFIRMED
9. Jan–Mar 2026
   The council held planning sessions on police headquarters site options. Traffic, environmental review, and cost analysis were all noted as still pending.

   CONFIRMEDcity project page
10. Oct 14, 2025

    The fully public process was voted down

    The City Council voted on Stapleton's September 23 proposal. Councilmember Weigand pulled the item; Councilmember Blom offered a substitute motion removing public members and creating the closed, council-only Newport Beach Police Headquarters Assessment Committee (Blom, Weber, Barto) instead. Passed 5–1: Blom, Weigand, Kleiman, Weber, Barto voting yes; Robyn Grant the sole no vote; Stapleton abstaining. The Assessment Committee subsequently met privately to discuss site options. [8] [4]

    CONFIRMEDLegistar staff report, October 14, 2025 (Resolution No. 2025-65)
11. Sep 23, 2025
    Then-Mayor Joe Stapleton proposed a fully public site-selection process, including making all committee meetings open to the public. [8]

    CONFIRMEDCity Council staff report / minutes
12. Dec 2022
    New councilmembers (Stapleton, Weigand, Grant, Kleiman) took office; they were not involved in the Dove Street decision.

    CONFIRMED
13. Nov 2022
    The City Council (Muldoon, Blom, Dixon, Avery, Duffield, Brenner, O'Neill) approved a $30.5 million purchase of 1201 Dove Street as a future police headquarters site.

    CONFIRMEDstaff report, Legistar
14. 2013
    City Hall moved from its 1948 building on Newport Blvd. to the current Civic Center. The project's cost rose from $105 million to $140.2 million during construction; a later audit found potential overbilling, and the contractor returned $365,000.

    REPORTED
15. Nov 2012
    Newport Beach voters approved Measure EE, amending the 2008 Charter provision to require most (rather than all) administrative offices to be located at the Civic Center parcel, alongside a number of other Charter housekeeping changes.

    CONFIRMEDCity Attorney's Impartial Analysis; codified Charter text
16. Feb 5, 2008
    Newport Beach voters approved Measure B, adding a Charter provision requiring City Hall, including the City's administrative offices, to be located on the Civic Center parcel. The amendment took effect March 3, 2008.

    CONFIRMEDMeasure B official text; Charter amendment record
17. 1973
    The city acquired the Santa Barbara Drive site and built a shared Police/Fire Station 3 facility there.

    CONFIRMED

Sources for this timeline: the Sep 23, 2025 public-process proposal and the Oct 14, 2025 vote [8] [4], the May 13, 2026 Speak Up Newport forum exchange [9] [10], the July 7, 2026 Advisory Committee meeting [11], and Resolution No. 2026-40 adopting the Capital Improvement Program funding [21] [12].

The Newport Beach Police Association has publicly stated that remodeling, reconstructing, or reusing the current Santa Barbara Drive site is not an option it supports. In its stated position, the Association cites the station's age — built more than five decades ago — and its inability to reliably support evidence logging, officer operations, and emergency response for a population that has roughly doubled since it was built. STATEDNewport Beach Police Association public statement[15]