SOS Directors to Seek Permit for New Home

The directors of Share Our Selves will appear before the Planning Commission on Monday night to seek a permit for a building on Superior Avenue, which the directors hope will become a permanent home.

The 12,000-square-foot building at 1550 Superior Ave. bordering Newport Beach had been considered as a location for the group and found suitable by a majority of the City Council. But SOS directors fear that an outcry from prospective new neighbors might sway the council to reconsider.

“There is going to be opposition no matter where we move,” said SOS founder and executive director Jean Forbath. “I just hope the council sticks by its guns.”

The 21-year-old agency, which is one of Orange County’s largest charities, provides food, clothing, medical and financial assistance to about 20,000 people a month. But the council voted to oust the group from its longtime home at the Rea Community Center on Hamilton Street after residents complained that SOS clients had caused disruptions.

Although the controversy generated an outpouring of moral and financial support for the charity, neighboring business owners and residents near its proposed new home had begun objecting before the ink on the purchase agreement was dry.

The neighbors said they fear that throngs of SOS clients will bring more crime, trash and traffic to the area.

Although SOS directors say such fears are unfounded, a group of Newport Beach residents, saying they do not want to inherit Costa Mesa’s problems, also plan to oppose the move.