Approvals and Surprises At The Planning Commission Meeting

IT'S ALWAYS AN ADVENTURE
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission met last night and most of the agenda went as anticipated.  However, there were some twists and turns.

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR - YET
Public Hearing #1, the request for modification of a conditional use permit to authorize an automobile towing function at the site of a car repair facility on Logan Street - anticipated to be denied - didn't quite go that way.  The proponents made a strong case for approval, so the commission shoved it out to a date uncertain so the staff and applicant can collaborate on the proper language for the strict  conditions of approval.  I expect we'll be seeing this one again in June.  The vote was 3-0, with commissioner Tim Sesler recusing himself from the deliberations because he works for the Auto Club and the applicant is an Auto Club contractor.

SUCCESSFUL SMALL LOT ORDINANCE PROJECT
Public Hearing #2, a small lot subdivision on Rochester Street, went smoothly.  In fact, several commissioners practically slobbered over themselves when commenting that this was EXACTLY the kind of project the new Small Lot Ordinance anticipated.  I thought more than one of them might hurt himself, patting himself on the back... The vote was 4-0.

PROJECT ON PACIFIC APPROVED
Public Hearing #3, Peter Zehnder's project at the very end of Pacific Avenue where it abuts Fairview Park, replaces five ramshackle units with five ownership units on just under a half-acre.  While not quite as clean as the previous project, the commission approved it, 4-0. 

SAY, WHAT?
One sidebar that came during this discussion was a peculiar mini-rant by Chairman Jim Fitzpatrick, who riffed about people who come before the commission to whine about things instead of "doing the hard work".  The dozen or so members of the audience at the time found themselves just shaking their heads, trying to figure out what he was talking about.  It was not the only time he seemed just a little disjointed in his dialogue last night.

A TROUBLED PROJECT
Public Hearing #4, the proposed residential-live/work development of 28 units that kind of snakes around at the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Hamilton Street to Charle Street, slithering past the Costa Mesa Community Garden and backing up to several businesses, including Red I Rentals.  During the 90 minutes of discussion concerns were expressed by contiguous business owners - including Red I Rentals' Tim Lewis, who attended despite cataract surgery that day -  about being forced later to move because of the noise and odors from their businesses.  The solution - which was built into the agreement and recorded against every property - was that EVERY buyer of ANY of those units IN PERPETUITY would have to acknowledge they were aware of the possible offending elements near them.  Even with that being said, a few of the business owners seemed skeptical of the plan.

CONTAMINATION MITIGATION STILL UNDERWAY
And, this project - which has been percolating for more than two years - is far from a GO.  There remains the successful mitigation of ground water contamination that's being dealt with right now. 

MOVES FORWARD
Eventually, the commission crafted verbiage to add some conditions and remove some others that were unnecessary and they voted to move the project forward, 4-0.

FITZY THE DEAL BROKER?
However, during this discussion Fitzpatrick - who seemed to be having trouble stay awake -  made an astounding admission.... he said, as he attempted to placate business owners, that not too long ago he had stopped in to Rudy's Garage - which occupies a little notch in the project footprint - to see if he'd be willing to sell his property so this project could be "cleaner"!  My jaw dropped when I heard that comment.  What in the world is the Chairman of the Planning Commission doing trying to broker a deal for the developer?  No, he didn't slur his speech, but it was certainly the kind of statement one wouldn't be surprised to hear come out of the mouth of someone not entirely in control of his faculties.

TWO MINUTES FLAT!
In fancy bit of "quick-pitching", it took the commission two minutes to dispatch New Business #1, the resolution finding the 1-year and 7-year Capital Improvement Programs to be in conformance with the General Plan.

COMING TO A STUDY SESSION NEAR YOU
And, it only took a short time longer to discuss and slightly modify the text of New Business #2, their Goals for the next fiscal year.  They will be fine-tuned and be part of a joint Planning Commission/City Council Study Session at 4:30 on June 10th in Conference Room 1A.

MORE ILL-ADVISED USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES
During that brief discussion Vice Chair Rob Dickson used his smart phone to do some research from the City's database on the 17th Street Specific Plan.  This is the second time in as many meetings - and the third time this year - that members of the commission have done independent research using mobile devices during deliberations and the information gleaned from that research was used making decisions.  While this is understandable, it's not a healthy practice.  For a sitting commissioner to use raw, uninterpreted data from unverified and possibly unqualified sources is dangerous territory.  The city needs a statement of policy on this kind of behavior.  We've all seen certain members of the City Council texting away, or surfing the net, during meetings.  It's, at the very least, a distraction from the proceedings and quite possibly something much worse.  It's possible that those devices could - and are - being used to gain direction or guidance from parties not part of the deliberations.  Perhaps a solution would be that all such devices be held for safekeeping by the clerk during the meetings.  If an emergency happens the clerk would be aware of it and alert the smart phone owner at the time.  Something MUST be done.