More Development And Code Enforcement Report

PERHAPS THE ONLY MEETING FOR A MONTH
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission meets again Monday, June 22, 2015 beginning at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall.  You can read the agenda HERE.

CONSENT CALENDAR
Under normal circumstances - are there EVER any NORMAL circumstances in Costa Mesa anymore? - we wouldn't pay much attention to the Consent Calendar.  This is where items considered "routine in nature" will be voted upon in one vote, without separate discussion.  However, item on the Consent Calendar MAY be pulled for separate discussion and vote by a member of the commission, staff or the public.  This time around that might just happen.  There are four (4) items on the Consent Calendar this time.  Here's a review:

ITEM #1 - CODE ENFORCEMENT STATUS

You can read about the current status of the Code Enforcement Division HERE.  Issue discussed include staffing, technology, enforcement status and what's ahead.  It's worth a read.

ITEMS #2 AND #3 - EXCESS RIGHTS OF WAY, 970 W. 16TH ST.
You can read #2 HERE and #3 HERE.  The City proposes vacation of a street and highway easement and vacation of a flowage easement to facilitate the development of property at 970 W. 16th Street by the same folks who brought you those 3-story plus rooftop patio developments on Industrial Way and Newport Blvd. and 17th Street and Superior.

ITEM #4 - A REQUEST TO CANCEL THE JULY 13TH MEETING

This staff report, HERE, requests the commission to cancel the scheduled meeting of July 13, 2015 to allow staff to better manage workloads and to coordinate vacations.  Well, I'm all for providing time off for the staff, but the City Council just canceled its meeting for a month later, on August 18th.  Since many of the same staffers will be involved with both groups, it would seem to be a curious bit of coordination... just sayin'...

PUBLIC HEARINGS
There are four (4) public hearings scheduled for Monday night.  Here's a preview of them.

PUBLIC HEARING #1 - ANOTHER PAWNBROKER

This item, HERE, is a request from an existing Jewelry Store at 1872 Newport Boulevard to be permitted to operate a full-service pawn brokerage by eliminating two current conditions of approval for the current Conditional Use Permit.  According to the staff report, this would be the 5th such store in Costa Mesa if approved.  Anecdotally, several residents have expressed concern over opening yet another such establishment because of the dramatic uptick in crime in our city - specifically burglaries, which many times result in exactly the types of items that would be handled by a pawn shop.  This should be interesting.

PUBLIC HEARING #2 - 10 UNITS AT 2880 MESA VERDE DRIVE EAST

This item, HERE,  is another hearing for a Rezone, Planning Application and Tentative Tract Map for a 10-unit detached single-family residential development at the site of the Church of Christ Scientist facility.  Following significant community opposition the developer held two community meetings and the result is the reduction from 13 units to 10, which has probably resulted in a better project for that neighborhood.  A note of interest - this project is in the neighborhood where both the mayor and mayor pro tem live.



PUBLIC HEARING #3 - 6 UNITS AT 2366 ORANGE AVENUE

This item, HERE, is for the development of a 6-unit two-story detached residential development at 2366 Orange Avenue replacing existing single story units.  This development, although utilizing the Small Lot Ordinance, still asks for adjustments to the front yard setback.  The staff recommends approval.

PUBLIC HEARING #4 - 32 UNITS AT 1672 PLACENTIA AVENUE 
This project, HERE, is another live/work development on the Westside.  It is another 3-story live/work development with roof decks and a minimum work space of 250 square feet on the ground floor.  There is a minor modification proposed to permit 8 feet between buildings instead of 10.

FIFTY UNITS AND A CANCELED MEETING..
So, there you have it.  Fifty (50) more units being proposed in our city, more than half of which are vertical structures on the Westside of town.  If the commission approves Consent Calendar Item #4, this will be the only meeting for a month.  We'll see...