Plans include houses, business for Westside

Three plans to integrate new residential and commercial development

into Costa Mesa’s Westside have come off the drawing board and are

getting a public airing.

Members of the City Council and the planning commission on Tuesday

had their first look at the 19 West and Mesa West Bluffs urban plans

and the Mesa West residential ownership plan.

The first two plans aim to promote development of store fronts and

work spaces clustered in “villages,” with housing either above work

spaces in the same buildings or nearby.

Aimed at artists, craftspeople and small-business owners, these

so-called mixed use developments have become popular in other cities

as a way to cut traffic congestion and stimulate redevelopment of

dilapidated properties.

Since city zoning doesn’t now allow this type of development,

officials are considering creating an overlay, which would add new

zoning rules to what’s already allowed in the area.

Costa Mesa’s plans lay out the details: lot sizes, building

heights, parking requirements, even plant types for landscaping.

The goal of the third plan is to promote home ownership by

encouraging the building of new condominiums and other multi-unit

developments.

According to the city, the 2000 federal census showed that while

the national average of housing units occupied by a renter rather

than an owner is 39%, Costa Mesa has an average of 60%

renter-occupied properties.

In the Mesa West residential plan area, the average is even higher

-- 81% of the units were renter-occupied in 2000.

Ralph Ronquillo, who chaired the committee that in March

recommended a plan for Westside revitalization to the council, said

Tuesday that he was excited to see how much effort the city is

putting into Westside proposals.

“I think that what they’re detailing in those plans is very

aggressive, but I do think it would definitely improve the area,

maybe even beyond some of the things that were outlined in the

[committee’s] report,” he said.

City Councilman Eric Bever said Westside property owners have told

him they’re already being solicited by developers.

“I think certainly the standards are going to be beneficial to the

area in terms of bringing in private development, which is the aim of

the council, to initiate improvement without using eminent domain or

any other sources of money,” Bever said.

The next step is public hearings with the planning commission and

then the City Council, which ultimately will decide whether to amend

the city’s general plan and zoning code to include the overlay.

No hearing dates have been scheduled, but the plans could appear

on the planning commission’s agenda as soon as November, city planner

Claire Flynn said.

For more information on the plans, visit the city’s website,

o7www.ci.costa-mesa.ca.usf7.