Auto Club May Expand in Costa Mesa : Growth: Organization considers buying eight acres to enlarge 467,000-square-foot processing center.

The Automobile Club of Southern California, after rumors circulated that it may move its processing center out of Costa Mesa or expand the facility elsewhere, said Wednesday that it has agreed to conduct an environmental review for the project here.

The club, based in Los Angeles, also is considering buying as much as eight acres of agricultural land next to its Costa Mesa processing center for an expansion that could double the amount of its office space--as well as the work force--at the site.

Buying the land, which is owned by developer C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, is among several options that the Auto Club is considering.

“Nothing has been decided,” said Malcolm Ross, director of development for Segerstrom. “It’s all an open question right now.”

Ross said the Auto Club, which is the largest of the nation’s 145 American Automobile Assn. groups, has not said definitely how much of the 30-acre tract it would want or where on the property it would build. Costa Mesa officials, however, have been told that it would be just west of the Auto Club’s current site at Fairview Road and Sunflower Avenue.

Another option would be to contain the expansion to the current site, although that might result in a less spacious working area.

Segerstrom ran into community opposition five years ago when it proposed a 3.1-million-square-foot project for the property that would have included office space, shops, a hotel, a health club and a child-care center.

Meanwhile, after rumors circulated that the Auto Club was being lured by other cities, Costa Mesa city officials have taken the first step toward changing the city’s own development guidelines for the site.

City planners said Auto Club officials told them that they were considering alternative locations. But the club has since agreed to conduct the environmental review, which could cost as much as $100,000, Auto Club spokeswoman Layna Browdy said Wednesday.

“We’re committed to Costa Mesa,” she said. “We’ve made a significant investment there. That’s our home.”

About 1,100 people now work at the Auto Club’s 467,000-square-foot facility, where behind-the-scenes processing work for the organization’s 3.7 million members in Southern California is done.

The proposal calls for adding 500,000 square feet to the site, which could mean more than an additional 1,000 employees in Costa Mesa, city officials said.

The project might be built in phases, with about half completed in a first phase and the rest as the Auto Club warrants, said Mike Robinson, Costa Mesa’s principal planner. The design would mirror the current building, a tiered white glass-and-concrete structure buffered by trees, bushes and berms.

The Auto Club has considered consolidating some of its locations at the Costa Mesa site, including offices in Los Angeles County, Robinson said. The company has not said whether such a move would mean relocating workers here from the main headquarters in Los Angeles. That facility employs about 1,100 people who do primarily administrative work.

“We’re looking at our entire operation now,” Browdy said. “No decision has been made at this time as to what would move down there.”

Even after an environmental review is completed, the Auto Club could face obstacles.

Last month, a homeowners group raised objections to new traffic that such an expansion would create. According to a traffic study financed by the club, the expansion would generate twice the traffic allowed under Costa Mesa’s General Plan, the blueprint for development within the city.

But Mayor Sandra L. Genis said the Auto Club has made strides in car- and van-pooling and flexible shifts, which cut down on employee trips.

“We’re trying to say, ‘Hey, we’ll do the best to accommodate you,’ ” Genis said. “We’re saying, ‘We’ll meet you halfway.’ ”

Early last year, the City Council turned down the Auto Club’s proposal, which would require an amendment to the General Plan. The council, which was just completing a revision of the plan, told the Auto Club at the time that it was too far along in the process to make additional changes.

That decision fueled rumors during City Council elections in November that the Auto Club was so discouraged that it planned to pull out of Costa Mesa or expand its facilities elsewhere.

Browdy maintained, however that, “even though the application was turned down, we’re committed to that facility. . . . Our intention is to expand that facility.”

Early this month, the City Council initiated a General Plan amendment on behalf of the club. Unless the city is in some way involved in a project, it is usually the private landowner or developer who would start such a process.

“They’ve been just a great, great corporate entity in Costa Mesa,” Councilman Joe Erickson said Wednesday. “We’d hate to see them go. It’s a sign of good faith on our part. We’re going to do our darndest to keep them here.”

Although there is a large vacancy rate in the area, Auto Club officials say, they want to have a central location for their operations.