Costa Mesa planning chair retires, leaving dearth of tenure on largely vacant commission

While Costa Mesa began winding down civic operations ahead of the winter holiday, the city’s Planning Commission chair in December presided over what could be his last meeting, having confirmed this week his intention to retire.

Byron de Arakal served on the panel for the last six years, having spent eight years on the Parks, Arts and Community Services Commission prior to that, going back to 2003.

A communications strategist and specialist in entitlement planning and public policy, including a 10-year stint consulting for a master planned community in East Los Angeles, de Arakal brought his expertise to bear on the commission.

“All that experience really prepared me for being able to understand what was going on at the Planning Commission level,” he said. “[The Commission] is the body that reviews land use operations and project applications — it’s essentially a gatekeeper of how a community is going to grow.”

He said in an interview Friday he decided not to seek a third term, citing the ongoing demand of reading staff reports, conducting site visits and communicating with city staff, project applicants and concerned residents on top of regular work commitments.

His last full meeting on Dec. 12, which happened to fall on his 64th birthday, seemed a good note to end on, although he may appear on the dais later this month as new members are sworn in.

“I believe that you’ve got to step aside, so the next group of leaders who are younger than you and who’d like to leave their thumbprint on the community have the opportunity to do that,” he said. “I think this is the right time.”

As right as the time may have been, de Arakal’s departure comes as Costa Mesa finds itself at a turning point in the city’s development.

With legal cannabis retailers finally starting to open for business and the city’s Measure K initiative having passed in November by the slimmest of margins — ostensibly opening the door for more large-scale projects along certain corridors — planning issues and affordable housing are front and center of civic discourse.

Incorporated in 1953, Costa Mesa was developed as a community of primarily single-family homes on large lots. There have been a lot of changes in the last 70 years, de Arakal said, and Costa Mesa must change, too.

“We’re trying to figure out how to transition from a suburban bedroom community into a modern urban community,” he said. “It’s going to be painful because we’ve got a lot of folks who’ve lived here for 30 or 40 years fighting like hell to keep it from being that.”

First appointed in February 2017 in the city’s District 3, de Arakal is the longest tenured commissioner, with Vice Chair Jon Zich, appointed in June 2018, and Commissioner Dianne Russell, who joined in June 2019, right behind.

The other four commissioners — Russell Toler, Adam Ereth, Jimmy Vivar and Johnny Rojas — were all appointed in 2021.

The vacancy left by de Arakal coincides with three others. Russell’s four-year term in District 5 also expires this month, along with two partial terms held by Ereth (at large) and Vivar in the city’s 4th District.

Now, with four of seven seats to fill, the Costa Mesa City Council is set to review applicants and make appointments on Tuesday in a regular meeting.

Russell, Ereth and Vivar have all expressed an interest in continuing to serve and are among 20 applicants being considered for appointment. Of the remaining 17, eight have indicated they would also be interested in serving in other capacities, such as the Parks and newly formed Arts commissions.

Appointed commissioners will likely be sworn in during a Jan. 23 meeting.

The council meeting begins Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Costa Mesa City Hall, 77 Fair Drive. For the meeting agenda, visit costamesaca.gov.

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