Costa Mesa : Traffic, Building Height Top Concerns on Project

The results of a postcard survey by C. J. Segerstrom & Sons asking residents how best to revise the developer’s proposed 30-story tower and office complex are in, and controlling traffic and limiting building height topped the list of homeowners’ concerns.

More than 150 angry residents jammed the City Council chambers in March to protest the Segerstroms’ proposed project--One South Coast Place--on 100 acres formerly known as the Home Ranch.

Residents complained then about the tower--which would have been nearly twice the height of the county’s tallest building--and the scope of the project, which they said would create a gridlock on Costa Mesa’s already clogged streets.

Disappointed, Segerstrom officials were forced to withdraw the proposal and rethink their plans. The company subsequently mailed out 15,000 post cards asking residents to rank eight different elements in considering plans for the site off Harbor Boulevard and north of the San Diego Freeway.

Of the nearly 2,500 Costa Mesa homeowners who responded, 40.9% or 1,020 people, listed traffic as the top priority, followed by 28.3%, or 705 people, who felt that the height should be reduced from 30 stories.

Child care facilities and cultural opportunities, which the company tried to use as major selling points in its original campaign, were ranked the lowest. Only 0.8%, or 21 people, said child care was an important feature and 1.9%, or 48 people, said cultural amenities, such as a museum or world-class art gallery, were important.