Costa Mesa : City Offers $250,000 Toward Marina Study

Landlocked Costa Mesa has offered to pay $250,000 toward a federal study of the feasibility of a $100-million Costa Mesa marina on 460 acres of lowlands inside the mouth of the Santa Ana River.

For 10 years, the city has been denied federal money for such a study, which by law must be paid with federal funds. In March, Councilman Donn Hall asked Congress to let Costa Mesa pay for it, and is still awaiting an answer.

Now, the city has written to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers asking for the waiver.

The Costa Mesa / Newport Marina Organization Committee, a group of residents who support development of the proposed marina, contacted members of Congress, Sen. Pete Wilson (R-California) and the Corps of Engineers to determine the project’s status, Hall said. The committee told the city that local funds could be used to pay for the study and that the Corps of Engineers was waiting for the city to contact it, Hall said.

In its letter to the Corps of Engineers, the city asks for verification of the financing arrangement, what steps need to be taken to begin the study and how long the study would take.

According to the Corps of Engineers’ Los Angeles office, feasibility studies take an average of three years. Hall said that, including the study, Costa Mesa would “be lucky” to complete the 3,000-slip marina within 10 years.