CarMax gets green light to pull into Harbor spot

Another car dealer will be added to the wide array of auto stores on Costa Mesa’s “Harbor Boulevard of Cars.” A 20,470-square-foot CarMax Auto Superstore will take over the parcel at Harbor and Gisler Avenue, left vacant when Wickes Furniture moved across the road to the new South Coast Home Furnishings Centre.

The Costa Mesa planning commission on Monday voted to allow the new store that will sell new and used cars. It’s being developed by South Coast Plaza magnates C. J. Segerstrom & Sons.

The new facility will be somewhat smaller than Wickes’ 158,000square-foot building and less than half the size of each of CarMax’s other two Orange County stores, in Buena Park and Irvine. The project doesn’t need City Council approval and can go ahead unless someone appeals it by June 18.

— Alicia Robinson