Countywide : Panel OKs Development Concept for Property

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the concept of joint public-private development of a 4.2-acre site of county property southwest of John Wayne Airport in an effort to generate more income for the county.

The property, which has been rented for a nominal fee to a private firewood-sales company for years, could wind up as the site of an office complex or commercial center, according to a report from the board’s Real Estate Advisory Group.

The group was formed 1 1/2 years ago and includes six private sector experts on real estate, plus three county officials. The group’s first recommendation was exploration of the possibility of joint development, through a long-term lease, of the site on Bristol Street near the interchange of the Costa Mesa and Corona del Mar freeways in Costa Mesa.

Officials said they hope other parcels of surplus county land can also be leased to private companies in the future.

“It’s obvious that we need to develop as many of our resources as possible to their full potential” in order to get extra income, Supervisor Harriett Wieder said. “I look forward to other pieces of property being put before us” for public-private use.

“There’s gold there,” she said.

The supervisors authorized negotiations with the California Department of Transportation to acquire or get the right to use a parcel at the intersection of Newport Boulevard and Bristol Street for access to the property, which is owned by the county flood control district. Requests to companies to suggest uses for the property will be made later.