Another Short Planning Commission Meeting Monday

SHORT, BUT PROBABLY LIVELY
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission will meet again on  Monday, September 12, 2016 beginning at 6:00 in City Council Chambers for what should be a fairly short meeting.  You can read the agenda HERE.  Even though the main part of the agenda has only two items on it, that doesn't mean it won't be lively - maybe even contentious.

A 24-HOUR GYM REPLACING A CAR DEALERSHIP?
For example, Public Hearing #1, HERE, is a planning application for a conditional use permit (CUP) to place a physical fitness facility (UFC GYM) at 2860 Harbor Boulevard - the site of the former Mitsubishi car dealership.  This gym would operate 24 hours a day.  The staff report recommends approval and seems to have taken into account most of the possible noise issues for adjacent apartments.  This has me wondering if this is the beginning of the demise of our Harbor Blvd. Of Cars?  Just asking...

LIVE, LOUD MUSIC UNTIL 2:00 A.M.!
Public Hearing #2, HERE, should generate some community interest.  This is a planning application for Holiday (formerly Lion's Den and Maison) at 719 West 19th Street.  Some will recall the chaos revolving about the Maison opening - codes violated or ignored and on and on.  This request asks for a CUP to permit live entertainment including, but not limited to, music, dancing and open microphones, within 200 feet of residentially-zoned properties and on-site valet parking.  Currently their public entertainment permit allows dis jockey entertainment and dancing.  The proposed hours of operation are from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., seven days a week; proposed hours for live entertainment are 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., seven days a week.  The staff report includes the sordid history of this venue.  We know this plan is not viewed favorably by contiguous neighbors, so I expect to see more than a few of them presenting their case Monday night.

WHAT ABOUT THE SOBER LIVING APPLICATIONS?
This is the second short meeting in a row.  We're still waiting to hear from the Development Services Department about when the avalanche of Sober Living applications will be presented to the Planning Commission.  We understand there are upwards of 50 pending consideration.  Director Gary Armstrong warned the commission a couple months ago to expect to put in extra time on those issues - referring to additional meetings necessary to handle the workload.  And, of course, the Development Services Department is working with a depleted staff and a consultant acting as the Assistant Director since Claire Flynn left for the private sector a couple months ago.  It's going to be an interesting remainder of the year for that organization.

Another Small Agenda For Planning Commission Monday Night

ONLY TWO ITEMS ON THE AGENDA
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission, guided by Chairman Rob Dickson, meets again on Monday, July 25 2016 beginning at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers for what may be another short meeting.  The agenda may be viewed HERE.

A FOUR-UNIT SMALL LOT DEVELOPMENT ON 23RD STREET
Public Hearing #1, HERE, is yet another small lot development, this on at 127 East 23rd Street.  The commissioners will hear the request to construct four units on this lot.  This project has no deviations from the Municipal Code.

REPLACING STORAGE WITH HOMES
Public Hearing #2, HERE, is the proposal to replace a public storage facility at 929 Baker Street, behind the headquarters of the Newport Mesa Unified School District, with a 56-unit common interest residential development.  The timing of this proposal is interesting.  Recently the Planning Commission heard a request to replace existing businesses along Bristol Street just east of Red Hill with a new storage facility.  The applicants in that project cited the demand for storage in Costa Mesa, yet here were are, trying to replace an existing storage facility with more homes.  Curious, no?

MORE SOBER LIVING APPEALS COMING UP
Apparently this short meeting will allow the Planning Commission to get some rest in advance of what we're told will be an avalanche of sober living appeals, to the extent that Director of Development Services Gary Armstrong told them in a recent meeting to expect an accelerated schedule - more meetings per month - for the next few months.  That should be fun.

Business As Usual At Planning Commission

MEETING WENT AS ANTICIPATED
As anticipated, the Costa Mesa Planning Commission processed all the items before them Monday night, although not without some significant dialog.  Vice Chair Jeff Mathews was absent.

LAUDING CLAIRE FLYNN
The commissioners began the evening by praising now-departed Assistant Director of Development Services, Claire Flynn.  They spoke of her professionalism and bemoaned the loss of her skills and institutional knowledge.

SLICING AN EASTSIDE LOT
Public Hearing #1, that bifurcation of a single lot at the corner of Tustin and Walnut in the Eastside received a lot of discussion by nearby neighbors, who didn't like the change this would make in their neighborhood.  Among the complaints were the increase in traffic and loss of privacy by contiguous neighbors due to second story outside living areas.  This was simply an approval of the tract map, not approval of any development per se, so the neighbors get another shot at this as projects are proposed.   It was interesting, though, that the commissioners were sensitive to the previous proposal across Tustin on Walnut Place in which the neighbors convinced the commission to deny splitting a lot in to five segments - none of which were less than 6,000 square feet - and told the owner to come back with a plan for four lots. They denied that this project was the same thing - apples and red oranges was the phrase one commissioner used.  The commission approved the map on a 4-0 vote.

VIVANTE EXPANSION MOVES FORWARD
Public Hearing #2 is the proposed expansion of Vivante on the far Westside.  This discussion took much longer than I thought it would, with concerns expressed about the proposed setback and concerns by speakers about the proximity to the Hixson Metals facility.  Chair Rob Dickson addressed that issue firmly, citing the fact that the AQMD is on top of the issue.  The proposal asks to replace a previously-approved plan for office space with more housing units, a fitness center and an events center.  Relatives of residents had several questions about issues during the construction, most of which revolved around the safety of their loved-ones during that time.  Others expressed concerned about the density of the expansion.  The owner patiently took time to address all the concerns, emphasizing that they have a $100 million investment that they want to protect.  Subsequent discussions included concern about undergrounding utilities from two remaining poles.  The commissioners moved this proposal forward on a 4-0 vote a couple of modifications clarifying the undergrounding of utilities.

SMALL LOT PROJECT ON FLOWER
Public Hearing #3 is the design review of a small lot project at 155 Flower Street at the corner of Fullerton Avenue.   The two homes proposed by the developer will, in theory, sell in the $1.4 million range!  Yikes!  Concerns were expressed about privacy from second story windows.  Colin McCarthy sarcastically muttered at one point, "Where are all the SLO naysayers when you need them?"  He and Stephan Andranian praised the lot as the perfect application of the Small Lot Ordinance. The map was approved quickly on a 4-0 vote.

NOT SO QUICK!
Next up was Public Hearing #4,  a companion project by the same developer, at 163 Flower.  This one proved to be more problematic due to the configuration of the residences on the site.  The alley at the rear of the property created a significant amount of heartburn for members of the public.  The second unit basically fronts on the alley, with only a narrow side gate on the front property identifying the rear residence.  The narrowness of the alley was a primary concern expressed by Jay Humphrey and others.  Others expressed concern about construction traffic in the alley and were worried about construction noise from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.  In addressing this project McCarthy said "We're cursed with this alley issue throughout the Eastside," and bemoaned the fact that there really is no better alternative for this property.   Dickson asked for inclusion of conditions of approval addressing the identifying of pedestrian access to the rear unit on Flower Street.  He also asked for a Construction Management plan, including limitations on the use of the alley for construction vehicles.  The commission approved the plan, 4-0.

MORE MEETINGS PER MONTH COMING UP!
During his report Director of Development Services Gary Armstrong alerted the commissioners that, due to the anticipated very heavy workload coming up he will be polling the commissioners about having three meetings per month rather than two, probably starting in September for a couple months.  I suspect this has to do with the mountain of sober living home applications and appeals.  This certainly will put an additional burden on an already stressed staff and those appeals will be high-visibility issues.  It's going to be an interesting fall, for sure.

General Plan Moves To Final Step

SINGLE ISSUE AGENDA
The Costa Mesa City Council met for a Special Council Meeting Tuesday night with a single subject on the agenda - the 2015-2035 General Plan and Environmental Impact Report.  Well, MOST of the council was there.  Lamest of lame ducks, Gary Monahan, was a no-show again.

ARMSTRONG AND STETSON
Director of Development Services Gary Armstrong kicked things off with a short introduction, then handed off to consultant Laura Stetson from MIG to get things rolling.  She has been the point person in this process for the nearly four (4) years it has taken us to reach this point.  I'm not going to attempt to paraphrase her - I'll just let her slides do the talking.

DOCUMENT AVAILABLE
Armstrong then took the ball back and went through segments of the staff report, HERE.  This document, and the attachments, makes for some formidible reading, but many answers are there.

TRAFFIC
Next up was consultant Daryl Zerfass of Stantec, who helped with the transportation elements of the General Plan.  His charts were too numerous and too difficult to read in this format, but can be found in the staff report.

ECONOMIC IMPACT
Then came Roger Dale with a refresher of the Financial Impacts.

PUBLIC COMMENTS
Up next were Public Comments.  To his credit, Mayor Steve Mensinger had a change of heart and decided to allow speakers three (3) minutes instead of two that was announced.  Good for him.  Twenty-six (26) people spoke over the next sixty-five (65) minutes, but I'm not even going to attempt to cover all of them.  Please watch the video of this meeting for all the details.  Here are some samples, though.

Beth Refakes questioned the overlay zone on Harbor Boulevard and wondered about the revenue generated by public storage units.  Because mention was made of comments to the EIR being lost - at least temporarily - she suggested a more refined system be used to manage comments in this process.  An interesting sidebar - Councilwoman Katrina Foley asked her as she left the podium what would her druthers be for Harbor Blvd.  The question caught her off guard, so she danced around it.

Jay Humphrey provided a little slide show using several of the images projecting what certain specific sites throughout the city may look like if development plans presently in the works are completed.  These two slides show the site of the Costa Mesa Motor Inn before the proposed project and after.  He had several similar comparisons and, just as they did in the recent Town Hall, they evoked murmurs from the audience.

Steve Lamott (sp?) representing the Building Industry Association spoke, telling us that the rate of growth in California has slowed and that the population is aging, with one in five 65 years of age or older.

Dr. Richard Mehren observed that the Fairview Park Preservation Alliance initiative to protect the park from development has qualified for the November ballot.

Jim Kerins - a member of the Bikeways and Walkability Committee -  used his three minutes to speak of the life-style preferences of GenXers and Millenials and eventually alienated every person in the audience over 50 with this statement - which had a very familiar ring to it as he carefully read from a piece of note paper after winging the earlier part of his presentation. "So, let's not let allow a vocal, selfish minority who won the genetic lottery and was born first to speak for all future generations who desire to live here in Costa Mesa."  Well, I'll just assume for the purpose of discussion that he was including me in that group and tell you that I'm pretty darn offended by it!   Is he saying us old folks - many senior citizens DO take the time to study issues and speak about them at council meetings - are not entitled to a voice on the future of our city?  He's telling us that his parents generation, who worked hard, raised families and created a good life for themselves, are no longer entitled to an opinion on important municipal issues!  Well, Jim, here's a message for you.  Us geezers pay attention to issues and we VOTE in the highest percentages of any other age group, so don't bother running for office in Costa Mesa - any political aspirations you might have had are toast!

Margaret Mooney observed that there were a lot of dwellings going up with no additional park space and wondered about the council's committment to parks.

Cindy Black challenged Kerins comments and corrected his math, since he got the percentage of the city affected by the General Plan as proposed by half.  She also suggested that the council watch the recent Town Hall on the Costa Mesa Brief YouTube channel.

Anna Vrska was the final speaker and she agreed with the majority of the speakers who preceeded her.  Among the observations she made were about the large number of innacuracies and mistakes in the document - a fact that was mentioned by others, including council members, during the meeting.

A SIDEBAR
During the public comments Righeimer told a couple speakers who addressed the lack of affordable housing that he wanted to get together with them, so call him.  At least he didn't say he wanted a cup of coffee with them this time.

THE DISCUSSION
Then, for the next 90 minutes the council discussed and dissected the documents.  Sandra Genis used some time to plow through the staff report and attached documents, dredging up important details that were problematic.  She was concerned about the quality of the analysis in some areas and conflicting legends on some of the maps provided.  At one point Foley suggested that she just present the list in order so the staff could compile them for correction. While this was going on both Mensinger and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer seemed amused and bored at the same time.

RIGHEIMER
During the discussion Righeimer said he had watched the Town Hall and found it to be biased and inaccurate.  Uh, huh... didn't expect more from him.  He then went off on a rant about the changes being proposed are "deminimus" - one of his favorite words - and couldn't understand why folks were getting so excited about it.  The traffic projections from the previous General Plan have not been met, so he chided the consultant for getting THAT one wrong, and wondered if he's wrong on this one, too.  In fact, during that interrogation of the traffic consultant he suggested that, since the traffic projections from the PREVIOUS General Plan update in 2002 had not been met, we should just take that document, stamp it and send it on it's way and not mess with this process!  I'm confident that the staff and consultants - who have spent thousands of hours and at least a million dollars on this process - were quite happy with that bloviating observation.

BASHING AUNT PEGGY - WHAT A JERK!
Adding to the cluelessness of the evening, Mensinger went off on a riff about his home town, Modesto, California.  You may know that it's located in the north part of the Central Valley and was supposedly the scene of the classic coming-of-age movie, American Grafitti.  Well, Mensinger told us that his Aunt was a politician in Modesto and she fought development so now Modesto is a mess!  Well, I can practically hear Aunt Peggy spinning in her grave.  I'm not going to go into this in detail, except to observe that Mensinger's Aunt Peggy is legendary in Modesto - there's a trail in a local park named for her and more.  If you're interested, read about her impact on that town HERE and in her obituary, HERE.  She was warning about situations exactly like those her nephew is facilitating here!

FOLEY'S MOTION MANIA
Foley got the floor and began making motion after motion on the items listed on the first page of the staff report and driving Mensinger and Righeimer nuts.  It was actually kind of fun to watch.  At one point one of her motions was based on a number in the staff report that turned out to be a typo - which made her VERY angry, since there were way, way too many of those gaffes in this document.

OUT OF BALANCE
She told us that the city was completely out of balance.  No, she didn't mean the people being off-balance, although...  she meant the homeownership vs. renter ratio is way off.  We have well over 60% of our residents renting shelter.  She wants to create situations where that gets reversed because she thinks owners behave for the long haul and renters tend to just live in the moment.

MIXED RESULTS
She was not completely successful in the motions she made.  She wanted to "re-order" the ratios of open space and other uses on the Fairview Developmental Center but the council didn't support it.  She wanted to remove the residential overlay from Newport and Harbor Boulevards but it also failed.  Quite honestly, these motions were coming so fast and furious, and the yapping among the council members - who didn't turn on their microphones - was so distracting, that I didn't get all the votes accurately.  Perhaps Daily Pilot stalwart Brad Zint did and will report it for us.  Perhaps I can piece it together when the video is available.  Sorry about that.

FINAL SHOT AT IT NEXT TUESDAY
The council will hold another public hearing on this issue next Tuesday the regular council meeting.  That probably won't take too long, since it will just be a clean up of some of these issues and they plan to vote to accept the General Plan at that meeting.  We'll see.

ADJOURNED FOR ORLANDO
At Genis' suggestion Mensinger adjoured the meeting in memory of those who lost their lives in Orlando recently.