Costa Mesa council to discuss policy for naming city facilities after notable residents

Costa Mesa council members will decide Tuesday whether to officially spell out a policy for naming city parks and buildings after notable residents.

As proposed by staff, anyone would be able to nominate municipal facilities to be rebranded in honor of prominent individuals who have made significant contributions to the city.

That proposal would then go to the Parks and Recreation Commission for review and recommendation before heading to the City Council, which would have the final say.

Costa Mesa does not have a specific policy for naming city facilities — a gap the council encountered in January when discussing whether to name the community center in Lions Park after Norma Hertzog, the city’s first female council member and mayor.

While council members indicated that they thought Hertzog deserved that kind of recognition, a majority said they thought such action should wait until staff put together official naming guidelines.

The city last changed the moniker of one of its facilities in 2011 when The Farm sports complex on Fairview Road was named after Jack R. Hammett — a Navy veteran, Pearl Harbor survivor and former mayor.

Sober-living permit appeal

Council members also will decide Tuesday whether to allow a sizable sober-living home to remain open in the Eastside.

Pacific Shores Recovery is asking the council to overturn the Planning Commission’s previous denial of the conditional use permit required to continue operating its facility with up to 46 residents at 200, 202, 204 and 206 Cabrillo St.

Planning commissioners unanimously denied the permit application in March, saying Pacific Shores did not comply with Costa Mesa’s requirement that group homes, licensed alcohol and drug treatment facilities and sober-living homes be at least 650 feet from one another in residential neighborhoods.

According to city staff, there are at least three other such facilities within that distance of Pacific Shores — which has been open since 2001.

Tuesday’s council meeting starts at 6 p.m. in City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.

luke.money@latimes.com

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