Sober Living Home Issues Top Agenda

LAST MEETING OF THE YEAR
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission, "guided" by Chairman Jim Fitzpatrick, meets for their final time this year on Monday, December 8, 2014 with an agenda that is certain to provide some controversy.  You can read it HERE.  The meeting begins at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall.  Although they will only hold one meeting this month, this highest paid Planning Commission in Orange County will get their full $400 per month stipend... Merry Christmas, guys!

CONSENT CALENDAR ISSUES
Right off the bat the Consent Calendar - items that theoretically can be considered without discussion with one vote - includes a couple items that might generate a request for separate review/discussion before the vote.

ORDINANCE POTPOURRI
#2, HERE, is an update on the smart phone app, Costa Mesa Connect and Nuisance Abatement Ordinance, Sober Living Ordinance(s) for R2 and R3 zones and recent motel inspection data.  Lots of information in there that will probably get some attention from members of the public.

SOBECA TRAFFIC AND PARKING
#3, HERE, is the discussion of the SOBECA Traffic and Parking Study.  According to the staff report, there's now too much of the former and not enough of the latter.  Attendees might wish to hear this issue expanded upon, too.

SCOOTER SALES REMOVED FROM AGENDA
There are five (5) public hearings on the agenda, but the first one, HERE, involving Scooter Sales, has been removed for later consideration.

LAWSUIT CENTRAL!
Public Hearing #2, HERE, should be very interesting.  It's the denial of a request for Reasonable Accommodation by Yellowstone Recovery.  Lawyers all over town are smiling...

BIG CHURCH EXPANDS TO COSTA MESA
Public Hearing #3, HERE, is the request by Saddleback Church to use a big chunk of space in the building at 1901 Newport Blvd. for church meeting and administrative purposes.  That 207 page staff report provides enough information and conditions for the staff to recommend approval.

SMALL DEVELOPMENT
Public Hearing #4, HERE, is a 3-unit detached residential development at 1817 Viola Place that includes a handful of variances, administrative adjustments and minor modifications.  I thought our Small Lot Ordinance was supposed to do away with all that stuff!

AND ANOTHER ONE...
The final Public Hearing, #5, HERE, is for a 5-unit residential development at 2661 Orange Avenue.  This, also, includes variances and divides the 19,800 square foot lot into five (5) fee simple lots.

NEXT MEETING NEXT YEAR
The Planning Commission will next meet on January 12, 2015 to begin another year of rampant development throughout the city.

Mid-Rise Development Moves On

SHORT AND TO THE POINT
In a relatively short meeting last night the Costa Mesa Planning Commission passed both Public Hearings before them - same project, separate actions.

THREE-FINGER SALUTE
The meeting began with a flag ceremony by Boy Scout Troop 316.

KILLING CODE ENFORCEMENT UPDATE
Chairman Jim Fitzpatrick pulled two items from the short Consent Calendar for separate discussion.  He addressed the Code Enforcement Update and, after a brief discussion, the commission agreed that this report was no longer necessary.  I thought it was an interesting decision, since it provides excellent information about progress "cleaning up" specific properties and neighborhoods.

TOUTING COSTA MESA CONNECT
He also pulled the discussion of Costa Mesa Connect - the Smartphone App available for use by residents and others to report a long list of problems - graffiti, potholes, etc.  An excellent introduction video produced by Brad Long of Costa Mesa Television was played for the audience.  It is presumed that in the future the Development Services Department will present regular, comprehensive reports about the effectiveness of this tool and the results achieved.  The first such report will be presented in November.

TWO YEAR EXTENSION
The first Public Hearing, HERE, was simply a two-year extension of a development plan for 585 and 595 Anton Blvd. plus a nearby parking structure.  The commission, minus Vice Chair Rob Dickson who left because his employer has a conflict, voted, 4-0, to approve the extension.

REDUCED SIZE
The second Public Hearing, HERE, is about the same site.  However, the property owners wish to modify the previously approved development.  The shorthand version of their plan is to reduce the scale of the approved project from two high-rise towers - 26 and 16 stories - to two mid-rise buildings of six stories each.  These new units would be rental facilities, not the condominium units anticipated in the earlier approved project from eight years ago - before the bottom fell out of the economy.

DEVELOPER DID MORE THAN NEEDED
This project made me smile.  It's clean in almost every way.  The developer, landowner George Sakioka and his team, provided more parking than is required and more carefully-crafted open space than is required.  Even though there are many who feel this city doesn't need any more rental units, these units will be upscale and seem to be the right kind of units in that location.  We were told they will likely rent for somewhere in the $2.75 - $3.00 per square foot range.  That could mean around $3,000 per month for some of the units.

MOVING ON TO THE CITY COUNCIL

The commission voted, 4-0, to move this project on to the City Council meeting of November 18th - a busy night, since it will be the only council meeting next month and the last one before a new council is seated following the election.

Connect to "Costa Mesa Connect"(Amended)

A NEW TOOL...
The City of Costa Mesa just announced the availability of a new app for smartphones that is, in their words, "a civic engagement tool that allows residents to conveniently access city services".  Read all about it HERE.

CHECK IT OUT!
I've downloaded it and have played around with it just a little.  It looks like a good tool.  Check it out!  I may play around with it some more while sitting in City Council Chambers this afternoon during the Mid-Year Budget Review.  Starts at 4:30... see you there.

OK, I'm back at 7:00 p.m. - the Study Session was a record - 45 minutes flat!  More on that later.

MORE INFORMATION ON THE APP
Back to this new app.  Among the features are:

• City News
• City Council Agenda
• City Hall
• Officials
• Online Services
• Calendar 
• Nearby Requests
• New Request

A LIST OF CHOICES
That last one is the ability for anyone using it to easily report "issues" around town, including being able to send photos of, for example, graffiti.  There are pre-programmed "request types" from which we can choose.  Here's the list of 26 choices as the app was launched:

1. Abandoned Shopping Carts
2. Building-Code Violations
3. Bus Stop Maintenance
4. Excessive Car/Foot Traffic
5. Excessive Cigarette Smoke
6. General Feedback
7. Graffiti Abatement
8. Illegal Garage Conversion
9. Illegal Mobile or Street Vending
10. Illegal Occupancy
11. Inoperative Vehicles (on private property)
12. Large congregations/gatherings of people
13. Overgrown Vegetation on City Property
14. Park Maintenance
15. Pothole Reporting
16. Property Maintenance
17. Sign or Banner Violation
18. Storm Drain Issues
19. Street Repairs
20. Street Signs and Markings
21. Street Sweeping
22. Sub-standard Housing
23. Traffic Signal Issues
24. Trash/Debris in Public Right-of-Way
25. Tree Issues
26. Vehicle on Lawn

WHO'S GOING TO RESPOND?
As I scrolled down through that list I found myself feeling just a little like a vigilante...  And, I wonder just who's going to gather all this information and act on it?  It seems like this has the potential to dramatically increase the workload on Code Enforcement, Public Services, Police and Fire.  So, our scheme is to reduce staff, then slam those who are left with an unmanageable amount of new work.  Strange...

BUT WAIT - THERE'S MORE!
Then I realized that there are a few more "issues" that folks may wish to report that are not yet included on the original list of choices:

1. Rude Behavior By Elected Officials Toward Residents
2. Rude Behavior By Elected Officials Toward Other Officials
3. Texting and Emailing By Elected Officials During Public Meetings
4. Potential (probable) Brown Act Violations at a Certain Pub in Town
5. Violating City Policies By Improperly Directing Staff Members
6. Stalking City Employees
7. Using Political Influence In Favor Of Friends/Business Associates
8. Ignoring The Will Of The Residents And Trying To Impose Personal Political Philosophy On Them
9. Placing Potholes Ahead Of Public Safety
10. Interrupting a DUI Checkpoint
11. Creating Unnecessary Bogus Committees and Stacking Them With Sycophants
12. Denigrating the Good Name of the City by Referring to it as "Costa Mayberry"
13. Gaining Employment While Claiming Complete Emotional Impairment And Inability To Work in a Bogus Lawsuit
14. Exhibiting Megalomanical Behavior
15. Claiming Someone Trespassed on Your Property to Place a Tracking Device on your Truck, Then Later Admitting That You Can't Park the Truck on Your Property Because the Driveway is Too Short.

PLEASE ADD MORE...
That's just for starters... I expect some of you will think of others.

I LIKE IT... LET'S SEE HOW IT GOES...
All in all, I like this new app.  I think it will be easy to quickly locate important information.  It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out.