Commission backs Main Street rail plan

Susan McCormack

COSTA MESA -- The Planning Commission on Monday unanimously recommended

that the City Council support a light rail project that would enter the

city via Main Street.

According to a staff report, this option will “have the greatest

potential to capture ridership and conform with the city’s desire for

system routing.”

The county CenterLine Project supported by the commission would travel

west along Anton Boulevard and stop at a station at Avenue of the Arts.

The project has faced intense scrutiny, most recently from the Santa Ana

City Council. Opposition has forced the county to scale back the proposal

from a 27-mile route to one that would begin at just 11 miles.

The commission also continued a request by Harbor Christian Fellowship

Church to allow 14 homeless women to stay in an existing room at the

church. The item was continued because the church had originally

requested a conditional-use permit to house men and the new request must

be re-advertised.

The request has been postponed several times since last summer to give

the church more time to assure neighbors that the shelter won’t create

noise and attract vagrants. The item is expected to be reviewed Dec. 13.

A proposal for a conditional-use permit to allow meetings in an existing

industrial building on Fischer Avenue raised the concern of members of a

nearby homeowners association before the commission unanimously granted

the permit. Neighbors said they were worried that the nighttime meetings

would cause parking congestion in the area, but the commission concluded

that meetings held during off-peak hours would not cause parking

problems.

The commission also unanimously approved a request by Patrick Scruggs to

split a 100-by-165-foot parcel of land on Magnolia Street. Four homes

occupy the property and the number of homes will not be allowed to

increase, despite the division.