HOUSING OPPORTUNITY WORKSHOP - 7/30/25

 WHAT AND WHERE?

Wednesday evening around 60 of your friends and neighbors attended the first of what is supposed to be 10 opportunities for us to express our preferences on the types of new housing being planned for Costa Mesa.  It began at 6:00 p.m. and was scheduled to run a couple hours. Seating was available for 70 and, when counting city staff and consultants, there may have been 90 souls in the Norma Hertzog Community Center.  I left shortly after 7:00.

GRUB AND KID-FRIENDLY

Refreshments were provided and there was a little table with coloring supplies for children attending.  I did see a couple children last night.

PHOTOS MAY HELP

I’ve included several photos of the evening, which might help give you a sense of the event.

THE THEME

The evening was themed “Neighborhoods where we all belong.”  

CARRIE KICKS IT OFF

Carrie Tai, our new Director of Economic and Development Services, kicked the evening off, then handed the proceedings off to representatives of the Dudek organizations - consultants for this process.  In addition to their team there were many members of the Development Services staff on hand to answer questions.  And, for the most part, there was good outreach to non-English speakers via translators - a very welcome change from years past.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS, PLUS

As anticipated, many of the usual resident activists attended this meeting to learn and opine.  I will list a few I recognized.  I saw council members Arlis Reynolds and Jeff Pettis, Planning Commission Chairman Jeffrey Harlan and current commissioners David Martinez and Angely Andrade Vallarta. Arts Commissioner Charlene Ashendorf and her hubby, Dennis were there.  Former councilman Jay Humphrey and his wife Sally were in the crowd, as was former councilwoman Wendy Leece and former Planning Commissioner Diane Russell.  Major property owner George Sakioka and current FIPAC committee member Ralph Taboada attended. Uber activists Cynthia McDonald and her hubby, Rick Huffman attended, as did my pal and super-blogger Jenn Tanaka of Goat Hill Rodeo fame.  I also saw Daily Pilot ace reporter Sara Cardine chatting with attendees and taking notes.  There were also a couple photographers scampering around, but I didn’t recognize them.

MANY NEW FACES

I was encouraged by the number of new, young faces in the small crowd last night.  After all, this will be their city and they need to express their wishes in this kind of setting.

SHORT VIDEO

Following the presentation of a short video which explained why we were there - too many people, not enough housing, and expensive housing when it is available.  We learned that Costa Mesa has 100,000 jobs, and that 7,000 were added in the last 10 years.  We were told the average home price exceeds $1,000,000 and that the average monthly rent is over $2,400.

BREAKOUT!

Following the video we were permitted to scatter around the room, view the various display boards and either affix “dots” where we could indicate choices or scribble post-it notes with suggestions/preferences.

WHAT DID THEY WANT?

Many attendees carefully crafted Post-it notes asking for things like "Affordability", 

"Safety", "Schools", "Affordable Senior Housing", "Pathway to Home Ownership", "More Light At Night For Residential", "Trees For Shade", "Mixed Use", and more.

WHAT THEN?

I was told that the information provided will be homogenized and blended with information for the remaining 9 similar opportunities for community members to gather and opine scheduled for the rest of this year.  Those meetings will take place throughout the city at different venues.  The data will then be compiled and presented to the Planning Commission and City Council sometime next year.

OBSERVATIONS

I noted with great interest that there was no mention of the Fairview Developmental Center property as an “Opportunity Site”, even though that more than 100 acre site could resolve many of our housing needs.  I also noted that only slight mention was made of the State-mandated RHNA numbers - 11,760 housing units demanded by the state for our city.  That, of course, is the prime motivator for this entire exercise.

BEEN THERE - DONE THAT

I came away with the feeling of deja vu - like we’ve been here before.  Yes, the folks from Dudek are bright and professional and have a proven system for gathering public opinion on these kind of issues.  Yes, the City Staff was helpful answering questions.  I’m concerned that this has been a long time coming and that it could get mired in the “process”, as has been the case many times in the past.  Several of us have gone through these kinds of exercises before, only to find the “progress” seemed to be slogging through quicksand.  We shall see.

AWAITING THE GOAT WRANGLER’S TAKE

I expect my pal, the Goat Wrangler, will provide us with a much better, more thorough account of this meeting.  When she does I will share the link to it on my Facebook page. 

MY OPINION?

Well, because we’re a 99% built-out city, Measure K authorizes us to re-zone certain commercial and industrial areas to accommodate housing and the ONLY way to make that work is to go UP!  (The image shown here shows those areas, although they should have used darker colors.)  Yeah, I know -  “Up” is a nasty word, but it’s a fact of life. We’re just going to have to figure out how to carefully plan for nearly 12,000 new dwelling units and the nearly 30,000 new residents they will accommodate.  Our neighbors in the City of Irvine have figured it out, which you can see in the Jamboree corridor north of the 405 freeway.  And, they’ve managed to soften the impact of big complexes by using lots of large trees! Traffic and parking will be HUGE considerations, too, as will the need for more schools, shopping areas, fire stations and police officers to keep us all safe.

FINGERS CROSSED FOR PROGRESS

In the meantime, I will keep my fingers tightly crossed that this process will move forward with quickness and, by this time next year, we will have some sense of what our city leaders plan to do on our behalf.  Of course, that will be in the middle of the runup to the 2026 municipal elections, when the balance of power on our city council could change dramatically.  As I said… we shall see.  

WATCH FOR FUTURE MEETINGS

Be alert for future similar meetings, where details can be fleshed out with consultants and staff.  It’s a chance for you to voice your opinion on what our city will look like downstream.

Two Committees Off And Running

TWO MORE COMMITTEES GOOD TO GO
As mentioned in my earlier post, the new Finance and Pension Advisory Committee and the re-constituted Bikeway and Walkability Committee both met yesterday, elected leaders and have launched themselves off on their assigned tasks.  Although I attended neither meeting, sources who were in attendance provided some insight for us.

FINANCE AND PENSION ADVISORY COMMITTEE CHOOSES FISLER AND TABOADA
The Finance and Pension Advisory Committee chose former Planning Commissioner and current Mesa Water Board member Jim Fisler as Chairman and Ralph Taboada as Vice Chair.  Members Wendy Leece, Taboada, Robert Juneman, John Hinson and Anna Vrska were selected to become members of the Pension Working Group, a sub-committee that apparently will be charged with examining the pension issues and providing information to the broader group.  Although the information was a little fuzzy, it seems that Taboada will act as chair of that group.  It's unclear when they will next meet.

BUDGET SHORTFALL PROBABLE...
Among the issues discussed were the current year budget - apparently all signs indicate a slight budget shortfall by the end of the fiscal year in June.  I'm told Interim Finance Director Steve Dunivent provided a series of options for the council to consider.

NEW FIRE PLAN NOT DISCUSSED
There was a plan to hear from Fire Chief Dan Stefano on the latest iteration of his deployment plan, but that didn't happen.  This item is on the agenda for the City Council meeting on Tuesday.

So, this group is organized and ready to operate.  Thanks to the volunteers who formed this group.  They meet next on May 10th.

*****

BIKE COMMITTEE CHOOSES ERICKSON AND MC DONALD TO LEAD THEM
The Bikeway and Walkability Committee met at the Senior Center last evening and chose Jim Erickson as Chairman and Cynthia McDonald was selected to continue as Vice Chair.  All members, as well as Chamber of Commerce liaison Brent Stoll, attended.  Mayor Katrina Foley and NMUSD liaison Dr. Kirk Bauermeister were absent.

ALL BRIEFED AND READY TO GO
According to Public Services Director Raja Sethuraman, the committee was briefed on important procedural issues - the Brown Act, etc., - and were oriented about recent accomplishments and discussed issues they would like to address moving forward.  Again, another good group, willing to work for the betterment of the of the community.  Thanks to them all.  They will next meet on Wednesday, May 3rd.

Bike Committee Tackles 19th Street Projects And More

MEETING WEDNESDAY NIGHT
The Costa Mesa Bikeway and Walkability Committee meets again beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 1, 2017 at the Costa Mesa Senior Center, 695 W. 19th Street.  The agenda is posted HERE.

A FULL AGENDA
As you can see, they will deal with:

• West 19th Street Bicycle Trail Project
• East 19th Street Neighborhood Traffic Management Project
• Request for Vacation of Right-of-Way at 152 East 19th Street
• Trail Rehabilitation (Merrimac to Golf Course)
• Arlington Bioswale Project

MAKING A REAL CONTRIBUTION
This dedicated, hard-working group led by Chairman Ralph Taboada and Vice Chair Cynthia McDonald, continues to make good progress in making Costa Mesa more bicycle friendly and more walkable.

General Plan and Draft EIR Approved By Planning Commission

A BRISK, SHORT MEETING
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission made a fairly short night of it Monday as they slightly juggled the agenda to shove the General Plan issue to the end.

HEROES HALL AND SIGNAGE
Under Public Comments Beth Refakes told of the move of the Heroes Hall building move at the Orange County Fairgrounds that morning.  She also complimented the staff on the completion of the Costa Mesa monument sign at the end of the 55 Freeway.

 OPINIONS NOT CONSIDERED
Kim Hendricks spoke of the various General Plan workshops and how it appeared that many of the opinions express by the public had not been considered, particularly regarding Fairview Park.

SOBER LIVING AND ILLEGAL NIGHT CLUBS
An unidentified woman expressed concern about the sober living homes, and told the commission that a new restaurant, Holiday, was opening at the site of the defunct Maison on 19th Street and expressed concern about the completion of necessary repairs - sprinklers, etc.

BOGUS "NON-PROFIT" DOING WORK AT FAIRVIEW PARK
Cindy Black was concerned about a "non-profit" group doing work in Fairview Park, indicating that they are pretending to be conservationists but know nothing about conservation.  She also took exception to the whole General Plan process, describing it as a "show".

SOBER LIVING NOT ON AGENDA AS PROMISED
Pat Murphy showed up expecting to speak to the sober living issue, but it was not on the agenda.  She described the negative impact of such places in her neighborhood.

THE WRONG FOCUS
During Commissioner Comments  Colin McCarthy waved a copy of the Orange County Register in the air, citing an article about two people who had stabbed a man at one of the motels - using the event to further denigrate motels in the city.  He complained that they were a drain on public safety resources and that they "weakened our brand."  He said we "shouldn't be hearing about this in the paper." What he failed to mention is that the Costa Mesa Police Department - in a stellar piece of police work - snatched up the two perpetrators in less than 24 hours and had them in jail.  Politics in Costa Mesa is not a pretty thing.

STAFF KUDOS
Tim Sesler complimented the staff for their "thoughtful, smart, consistent approach" for the city.

THANKING SPEAKER
Stephan Andranian thanked Ms. Murphy for coming to speak.

PROBLEM MOTEL PRIMER
Chairman Rob Dickson gave us a little primer on the "Motel Task Force" - and how his assignment was to do something about the problem motels. 

OOPS!
Nobody pulled the Boathouse Collective review from the Consent Calendar for discussion so it was approved along with the minutes of the previous meeting, 5-0.  Unfortunately, nobody told the owners of that restaurant, so they and their kids sat in the audience for an hour before they discovered it.  Oh, well.

410 WALNUT PLACE
Public Hearing #1, the Tentative Parcel Map for a big Eastside lot not too far from my home, was promptly approved on a 5-0 vote.  None of the nearby neighbors showed up this time, so one assumes they're going to be happy four large lots on which four large homes can be built.  The developer, Steve Scarborough, apparently took great pains to communicate with the neighbors following the previous meeting where the plan for five lots was rejected primarily because the neighbors didn't like it.

2242 PACIFIC
Similarly, Public Hearing #2, the two-lot subdivision at the corner of Pacific and Wilson on the far Westside was quickly approved.

OPERATING HOURS FOR THE HUB
Public Hearing #4, which was moved ahead one slot, is the request for expanded hours of operation by The Hub restaurant on Old Newport Boulevard.  The chart below shows what they were requesting.  The commission approved expanded hours - from 7:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m. Thursday through Saturday nights and 7:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday.  They also included the longer hours for New Year's Eve, regardless what day it falls on AND, to placate concerns about noise for the nearby neighbors, a provision that all cars will be removed from the back parking lot at Midnight and it will be locked at that time.

GENERAL PLAN AND DRAFT EIR
This brought us to the big item of the evening, Public Hearing #3, the General Plan Update and Draft Environmental Impact Report.  Assistant Director of Development Services Claire Flynn kicked off the four-part presentation by reminding us this was the fourth such hearing, which had followed nearly three years of public outreach via the Great Reach process.  The staff report for this item was about an inch thick.

FAIRVIEW DEVELOPMENTAL CENTER
Among the issues discussed were the Fairview Developmental Center property, which will receive a new, previously-unused zoning designation of "Multi-Use Center".  There remains some conflict between the City and The State regarding the density for this property, and also for the open space.

The Airport Land Use Commission also signed in with conditions they need to be met by the General Plan, such as height restrictions and sound levels.

US Fish and Wildlife also presented its views.


PRIOR CONCERNS ADDRESSED
Consultant Laura Stetson, who has been intimately involved in this process for the entire time, addressed some of the concerns expressed by individuals at the last meeting.  Some of those are covered by the following slides.

NO FAIRVIEW PARK CHANGES IN GENERAL PLAN
Colin McCarthy affirmed that nothing changes at Fairview Park as a result of the General Plan update.  Acting City Engineer Bart Mejia confirmed that fact, and advised that the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee will begin meeting again to complete their work to fulfill the update of the Master Plan of Parks, which is a decade old.  McCarthy also complimented the staff for its creative solutions to the FDC issue.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING ALSO NOT INCLUDED
During the discussion it was affirmed that Affordable Housing is NOT included in this General Plan update - McCarthy made it clear that the City Council provided a strong signal on how it feels at the last meeting, when they rejected Katrina Foley's idea for an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance.

TRAFFIC NUMBERS UPDATED
A representative of the consulting firm Stantec updated us on the traffic issues.  These slides show some of that information.

FISCAL IMPACT UPDATED
Consultant Roger Dale updated the Fiscal impact, as these slides show.

CALCULATIONS INCORRECT
During the Public Comments segment Kim Hendricks told the commission that their data on "distance to parks" is incorrect, and provided information to the commissioners.

DENSITY, TRAFFIC, OWNERSHIP RATIO AND MORE
Cynthia McDonald expressed concern about the density and traffic.  She also indicated that the renter vs. ownership housing ratio is headed the wrong way - from what was presumed to be 60/40 to 67/33.  She also implied that there was a plan for "district parking" similar to Davis - which severely restricts individual parking in certain areas of that town.  She also expressed concern for the lack of new parks, but the increasing population that will increase the demand for parks.

BEMOANING LOSS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING...
Kathy Esfahani, representing the Costa Mesa Affordable Housing Coalition, again bemoaned the loss of affordable housing in the form of so-called "problem motels" - another of which was just cited by The City Monday.  She also quoted Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer from the last council meeting, citing some of his comments as "stupifyingly ignorant comments by someone who says he's an expert on affordable housing."  She also said 10 cities have Inclusionary Housing Ordinances.  As an aside, Righeimer was on the John and Ken Show on radio station KFI Monday afternoon pontificating about Affordable Housing for about 10 minutes.

...AND AGAIN
Linda Tang, representing the Kennedy Commission again complained about the loss of affordable housing units in motels, specifically citing the Costa Mesa Motor Inn, which is currently embroiled in two lawsuits, so the project to demolish it and replace it with luxury apartments has stalled.

FDC 20 YEARS OUT
During the subsequent discussion McCarthy opined that the Fairview Development Center is probably a 20 year discussion, and that there will likely be some "horse trading" with the State before anything gets done there.  He also opined, again, that despite evidence to the contrary, he "knows" the city needs more playing fields, but didn't provide any kind of qualification for that opinion.

MOVED THE ITEMS FORWARD
The commission voted to recommend that the City Council certify the Draft EIR and the General Plan.  Flynn told the commission that the next step is for the Airport Land Use Commission to review the documents tentatively at their May 19th meeting, after which it will go to the City Council for consideration.