Costa Mesa Approves Redevelopment Plans Despite Some Protests

Despite pleas from a handful of merchants who probably will have to move, the Costa Mesa City Council has voted to go ahead with its second downtown redevelopment project.

In doing so, the council cleared a major hurdle for C. J. Segerstrom & Sons of Costa Mesa and Texas-based Lincoln Property Co., which plan to build a 160-unit, Spanish-style apartment complex near 19th Street and Harbor Boulevard.

“Here is a developer coming out of nowhere and putting all of us out of business, practically,” said Ivan Ulloa, who has owned and operated George’s Mexican Restaurant at 597 19th St. for the last 10 years. “If I change that location, I might as well close my shop.”

Another property owner, Audre Schiff, compared the location to the prime property of “downtown Houston,” and said, “I’d never be able to find another spot like this one anywhere.”

The City Council approved both the zone changes and tax-exempt bond financing that could allow construction of the $14-million project to begin by July. Councilman Dave Wheeler dissented, and Councilman Donn Hall, usually a supporter of new development, voted against the project because it meant current property owners must move.

The 19 businesses facing eviction in the area bounded by Plummer and 19th streets and Park and Anaheim avenues include a pet store, a clothing boutique, a modeling studio and massage parlor and a television repair shop.

A city credit union office, a Girls Scout headquarters and eight homes and apartments also will be displaced by the project.

Marilyn Whisenand, executive director of the Redevelopment Agency, said that Lincoln Property already has bought six of the 19 parcels, and that the state, which owns three of the parcels, is willing to sell.

Eminent Domain Action

If the remaining 10 property owners are unwilling to sell, the city is prepared to take the properties by eminent domain and pay the owners the market value, Whisenand said.

“We will attempt to negotiate to purchase the properties,” Whisenand said. “If we cannot come to an agreement with the owners, there would be a second public hearing to determine whether the public good requires that the property be condemned.”

Redevelopment, city officials have said, is undertaken to solve a variety of problems, including inconsistent zoning that has allowed homes and businesses on the same parcel, or to stimulate business.

“This project serves two goals: revitalizing the downtown . . . area and adding needed housing to the city,” Whisenand said. “Costa Mesa has the beginnings of what can be an excellent project for them.”

Under the agreement approved this week, the two developers will build 160 one- and two-bedroom apartments, 40 of which must be set aside for low- or moderate-income families. A clubhouse, pool and parking facility are part of the plan.

Whisenand said displaced merchants will be paid the costs of moving, improving their new locations if necessary and changing letterhead and stationery.

“The idea is to make them whole again,” she said.

But many of the business owners said they are seeking legal advice to fight the city’s decision.

“We feel our property has been taken by the city to give to a private developer with more money to offer the city than they felt they could get from us in the way of taxes,” said Judith Hussain, who has owned International TV at 573 19th St. for 20 years. “We are not clear what our next step will be,” Hussain said. “We’re not willing to take this lying down.”

“I’m going to hire an attorney and my own appraiser to make sure I have as much legal advice as possible,” Ulloa said Thursday.

“I don’t want to be shortchanged here because I have put a lot of years here, a lot of effort. They are displacing me from the best spot of Costa Mesa and there is no way they can find me a better place,” he said.

Costa Mesa adopted a redevelopment plan in 1972. The first project, a Spanish-stucco style arrangement of trendy stores and restaurants called the Costa Mesa Courtyards, opened last month. It is across the street from the proposed apartment complex.