Costa Mesa wants further parking study for proposed commercial/residential project the Plant

Costa Mesa City Council members Tuesday put the brakes on a new residential, restaurant and retail development proposed for the city’s Sobeca district, saying additional study is needed to ensure it provides enough parking.

On a 4-1 vote, with Councilwoman Katrina Foley opposed, the council delayed deciding the fate of the Plant.

“I believe there’s a possibility there could be a need for more [parking], and we need to go over the plans a little more, look at some of those areas where we weren’t quite sure … and come up with a real number,” Mayor Sandy Genis said.

The Plant would redevelop about 2.2 acres at the corner of Baker Street and Century Place.

Plans entail renovating four commercial buildings with retail and dining surrounding a central courtyard. The buildings now house the CarMart auto dealership and formerly a nursery and garden shop called the Plant Stand.

The new project from Lab Holding LLC also would include a new greenhouse structure and a four-story building with a blend of 48 residential units, six live/work units and office space above a two-level, 180-stall parking garage.

All told, the Plant would have 242 onsite parking spaces, more than enough to meet the city’s requirements, according to city staff.

Councilman Jim Righeimer, who requested that the council review the Planning Commission’s approval of the project, questioned whether the parking calculation properly accounted for all the uses outlined in the development and presented his own analysis alleging the Plant falls far short of what’s needed. The Planning Commission’s unanimous decision in March was delayed almost three months because of concerns about parking.

“I think this is cool as all hell, OK?” Righeimer said. “I just want to get it parked.”

Lab Holding officials disputed Righeimer’s conclusions and methodology. In several heated moments, the councilman verbally tussled with the company’s founder, Shaheen Sadeghi.

“This project that’s being presented to you worked with all of the existing codes,” Sadeghi said. “We haven’t asked for any variance.”

Righeimer said he wanted a firm agreement requiring Lab Holding to pay to help the city eventually build a parking structure that would serve the wider Sobeca district, a 39-acre zone that includes other Lab Holding projects such as the Camp and the Lab commercial centers on Bristol Street.

Other council members, however, questioned whether the city could legally require that kind of payment or whether it’s possible to determine how much that contribution should be since there aren’t concrete plans for a parking structure in that area.

“Our staff is telling us that this [parking is] pursuant to a plan that is in place and the applicant relied on and the Planning Commission relied on and staff relied on. … To say we’re going to sit down with this applicant and extract some type of payment I think smacks of extortion,” Councilman John Stephens said. “And I think it’s inappropriate and immoral, in fact.”

Lab Holding representatives said they’d be willing to partner with the city to build a parking structure at some point. Foley said she trusts they will follow through, given the company’s deep roots and sizable investment in the community.

“Here we have a beautiful project that repurposes a building, it maintains the history of the area, it’s artistic and innovative, it’s got a world-class architect [Seattle-based Olson Kundig] attached to it that’s going to give our city some recognition,” she said. “There are so many good things about this.”

luke.money@latimes.com

Twitter @LukeMMoney