Costa Mesa planning commissioners delay decision on changes to city small-lot ordinance

Saying they wanted more time to study the issue, Costa Mesa planning commissioners held off Monday on advancing changes to the city’s small-lot ordinance.

The proposed revisions will return for further review at an undetermined date.

Chairman Stephan Andranian said he thought the alterations, as drafted, would amount to “a complete gutting of the small-lot ordinance,” which was designed to ease development standards for proposals of 15 or fewer detached homes in areas zoned for multifamily units.

“The proposal here is far too onerous,” he said. “I don’t think it’s workable. I think what it will do is completely kill the ordinance, which I don’t think was the goal of the City Council.”

Commissioner Carla Navarro Woods said she thinks “there’s an opportunity to make the small-lot ordinance work in a better way” and “to tweak this a little bit more and have a broader discussion” on parking and lot size requirements.

It also made sense, Commissioner Jeffrey Harlan said, to wait until the panel is at full strength before making a decision. Vice Chairman Byron de Arakal and Commissioner Isabell Kerins were absent.

Generally speaking, Harlan said he would “like to see us, this community, do as much as we can to promote housing.”

“I think this is a young ordinance,” he said. “It’s still kind of growing.”

The commission’s vote would have been advisory, as the City Council has the final say.

In February, the council directed staff to initiate a code amendment to modify development standards for projects processed under the small-lot ordinance to make them consistent with those for common-interest developments, such as condominiums.

While those standards are already largely the same, the proposed changes would require small-lot projects to provide more open space and, in some cases, additional parking or greater distance between buildings.

The small-lot ordinance has been the subject of controversy since its adoption in 2014.

Opponents contend it allows excessive and overly dense development that’s created problems with traffic and parking, as well as other quality-of-life issues. They’ve urged the city to scrap it or at least impose a moratorium.

Others, however, say the ordinance encourages redevelopment and creation of new housing on underutilized land.

Most of the speakers at Monday’s commission meeting said they were concerned the proposed changes to the ordinance would reduce the build-able area of their properties making it more difficult for them to redevelop or renovate and possibly lowering the value of their lots.

Andranian said he thinks the effects of the ordinance have been exaggerated by those who want to see it repealed.

“While that’s certainly their right, I don’t think that misconstruing the effect is necessarily an honest way of going about having a discussion on the small-lot ordinance,” he said.

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