Update to general plan heads to dais
After years of study, discussion and debate, a proposed update to Costa Mesa’s general plan will go before the City Council for review during its meeting Tuesday.
The council will hold a public hearing on the draft general plan — a state-mandated document that acts as a blueprint for development and is “the foundation upon which all land use and related decisions are based,” according to city documents.
The council meeting will be the latest step forward in what has been a long process.
To collect input to help draft the plan, Costa Mesa staged a community engagement program dubbed “The Great Reach” that included a series of workshops and study sessions from 2013 to 2015.
The Planning Commission held four public hearings on the draft plan in March and April this year and voted unanimously April 25 to recommend that the City Council adopt the document.
Commissioners described the plan as a step in the right direction and praised it for providing flexibility for future city councils. But some residents said they were concerned that development allowed under the proposed update would create more traffic, harm local air quality and generally degrade the quality of life in Costa Mesa.
Though the proposal would permit more residences, particularly high-density units, than allowed in the current general plan, it calls for only a handful of major land-use changes.
One such change would redesignate the site of the state-run Fairview Developmental Center on Harbor Boulevard to allow for redevelopment should the center close, as is proposed. The facility provides services and housing to people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Also included in the draft update is a new “residential incentive overlay” that would allow owners of certain properties along Harbor and Newport boulevards, particularly motels, to rezone their land to high-density residential.
City staff is recommending that the City Council receive information and public comments on the general plan Tuesday and then continue the item to the following council meeting June 7.
Tuesday’s meeting will start at 5:45 p.m. at City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.
