COSTA MESA : Mayor Criticized for Auto Club Delay

The president of the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce harshly criticized Mayor Sandra L. Genis on Wednesday for holding up a project that could bring hundreds of jobs to the city.

Jim Ferryman also called opponents of the plan to expand the headquarters of the Automobile Club of Southern California “a parade of anti-business groupies that crawl out of the woodwork every time something of any value comes before” the City Council.

The City Council on Monday delayed approval of a 500,000-square-foot expansion of the auto club’s offices here.

The decision came after Genis grilled city staff for more than two hours about details of the environmental impact report. The council delayed its vote on the EIR until June 20. The mayor told traffic consultants she believes the project will produce more traffic than the EIR shows.

If the auto club’s plan for its offices at 3333 Fairview Road is approved, the company will become the city’s largest employer. A study estimated the expansion could bring about 1,300 jobs and add $2.3 million yearly in retail sales and services to the city.

Genis, a professional land-use planner, was elected to council after she and other residents sued in 1987 to block a 3.2-million-square-foot project on the Segerstrom Home Ranch, next to the auto club. She said at the council meeting that the auto club’s large development could cause serious traffic and housing problems.

“Her intimidating manner with the staff and everyone else she comes in contact with is totally unacceptable, unprofessional and offensive,” said Ferryman, in a public statement authored on behalf of the chamber.

“Any other city in the state would be and are in fact trying to persuade the auto club to come to their city,” Ferryman said.

Genis quickly defended her actions.

“These questions had been submitted in writing by the public and had still not been answered,” the mayor said. “I guess if you ask six times to get an answer you’re supposed to quietly go away and shut up. That’s not what I was elected to do.”

City Manager Allan L. Roeder said, “Obviously when we got to Monday evening, we weren’t fully prepared to address (the questions). There frankly was nothing raised Monday night that should have been a surprise.”

His staff is now preparing answers to the questions from Genis and residents, he said.

Councilman Peter F. Buffa, who abstained from the EIR vote because he has worked for the company that did the environmental study, said he is concerned about the fate of the auto club expansion.

“It’s a dream project for the city,” Buffa said. “I would be surprised if other cities in Orange County haven’t been waltzing them.”

A spokeswoman for the auto club declined comment on whether other cities have tried to woo the project away.