Former state hospital-turned-COVID-19 ward in Costa Mesa eyed for regional ER center
Costa Mesa’s Fairview Developmental Center, a former state hospital that accommodated COVID-19 patients during the pandemic, is now being eyed by officials as a site for a regional emergency operations center that would support 11 Southern California counties.
Once completed, the new site would operate on a 15-acre portion of the state-owned site, currently comprising 114 acres of largely unused land at 2501 Harbor Blvd.
California’s Office of Emergency Services is working with the state Department of General Services’ real estate division to prepare an environmental impact report for the work. Members of the public and city officials have until Monday to share concerns and make recommendations about mitigating those impacts.
Situated on the southwest corner of the property, the new center would include a 35,000-square-foot office building, a 20,000-foot warehouse with vehicle maintenance bay and space for life-sustaining commodities, such as meals, water and tarps, for emergencies.
A helipad and a 100-foot lattice communication tower topped by 20-foot antennas are also being proposed for the new Southern Region Emergency Operations Center, which would serve as a backup to a larger State Operations Center in the city of Mather, near Sacramento.
Cal OES maintains the facility would allow the state to more quickly coordinate resources to support local governments in the event of an emergency and serve as training grounds for disaster response efforts.
Some buildings at the site would potentially be demolished, should construction proceed. Barring any delays, the design-build phase of the project would begin in 2024.
The remainder of the acreage could potentially be redeveloped into housing or other uses compatible with city zoning, Monica Hassan, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of General Services, confirmed Friday.
“We intend to sell the site, however, we want to ensure that what can be developed there is housing-centric,” Hassan wrote in an email. “There is currently trailer bill language that facilitates establishing housing-centric zoning in Costa Mesa, which means it would be possible for us to sell the property for a company and/or team to come in and build affordable housing.”
Costa Mesa was tasked with submitting to the state a proposal for how it would accommodate, through planning and zoning, an additional 11,760 housing units by 2029, and Fairview Developmental Center could be key to meeting that goal.
City Manager Lori Ann Farrell Harrison said at an April 4 City Council meeting the city had created a working group comprising herself and department heads across four departments, including fire, police, public works and community development that was “actively engaged in this at the highest levels.”
“The city will be putting together its responses, its feedback and questions in writing, and we will be sharing that publicly as well,” she said.
However, when asked last week for more information on the process, city spokesman Tony Dodero said city officials had no additional comments to provide other than a link to the state’s notice of extension shared on the city’s website.
Public comments may be submitted by email to comments@oesregionsoutheoc.org, with “Southern Region Emergency Operations Center Project NOP Scoping Comments” in the subject line.
Residents wishing to send comments by mail may send them to: Ms. Terry Ash- Senior Environmental Planner, California Department of General Services Real Estate Division, Project Management and Development, 2635 North First St. Suite 149, San Jose, CA 95134.
For information on the project, visit oesregionsouthoc.org.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
