3 Costa Mesa housing projects approved, but required utility work may ‘doom’ one of them
Three housing projects totaling almost 50 units were approved by the Costa Mesa Planning Commission on Monday night.
However, commissioners balked at granting one applicant’s request to get around a city policy requiring utilities to be moved underground — a decision they acknowledged could kill the project.
“It’s probably going to doom the project, and it doesn’t make me happy to do,” Commissioner Colin McCarthy said. “I think it’s a beautiful project.”
In a letter to city planners Feb. 12, applicant Nick Louis said a representative of Southern California Edison told him removing a utility pole and relocating utilities underground in the public right of way next to the proposed development on Hamilton Street would cost “well in excess of $500,000,” which would be “cost-prohibitive for a project this size.”
Louis’ project would entail tearing down four one-story residential units on about a half-acre lot at 592 Hamilton, west of Maple Avenue, and replacing them with six two-story, ranch-style homes.
Three of the new homes would be 1,523 square feet and have two bedrooms; the others would have three bedrooms and 1,700 square feet.
The commission voted 2-1 to approve the project, but not the request for a waiver of the utility work. Commissioner Stephan Andranian dissented because of parking concerns, and Commissioners Jeff Mathews and Tim Sesler were absent.
Commission Chairman Robert Dickson said he’s “sensitive to the applicant’s concerns” and hopes withholding the waiver “doesn’t kill the project.”
Another proposal approved Monday — a 10-unit development on about a half-acre at 522 and 526 Bernard St., west of Harbor Boulevard, drew questions about parking.
The project includes 34 parking spaces — 20 in garages and 14 open. City code called for the project to have 20 open spaces, so applicant Patric Lynam sought commission approval for an alternative parking plan.
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FOR THE RECORD
March 29, 3:15 p.m.: An earlier version of this post misspelled the first name of applicant Patric Lynam.
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The commission voted 2-1 to approve the project as proposed, but Andranian, who voted no, said he had a “real issue” with “the parking requirements not being met.”
The planned two- and three-story units would have a contemporary design and 1,600 to 1,700 square feet. Seven existing apartments would be torn down to make room for the project.
The largest of the three projects reviewed Monday — 33 two-story detached homes on about 3.7 acres at the northeast corner of Harbor and Merrimac Way — was approved 3-0.
Those homes would have a “modern Spanish,” “plantation” or “modern farmhouse” style and include three or four bedrooms. They would range from 2,390 to 2,815 square feet, including garages.
The project, which also features private park space, will replace a former Buick-GMC-Cadillac dealership at 2626 Harbor Blvd.
The Planning Commission’s votes on the proposals are final unless appealed to the City Council.
