EDITORIAL

Right now, it’s pretty easy to drive through Corona del Mar on East Coast

Highway without wanting to pull over and shop.

A plan released last month would change that, and the cost -- which is

still undetermined -- won’t come out of the taxpayers’ pockets.

The Corona del Mar Business Improvement District’s ambitious proposal to

beautify the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Coast Highway calls

for major landscaping work, including a multicolor flower mosaic on the

road and remodeled store fronts.

Instead of the hodgepodge of old and new buildings, the completed project

would unify the area under a common architectural style. The road would

be lined with trees, plants and flowers, complementing the flower-themed

street names of the neighborhood.

It makes for pretty pictures, but this plan has a long way to go before

those pictures become a reality.

The major hurdle is Caltrans. Newport Beach would have to acquire a

portion of Coast Highway, as well as the sidewalks, from the California

Department of Transportation before any of the serious work could get

underway. Almost assuredly, the city would have to take over maintenance

of the street, and details of how to pay for that would have to be worked

out.

Judging by letters from the community, there also is a healthy bit of

skepticism from residents. Most of those who were not thrilled by the

idea worry that the improvements will only be cosmetic, and short-lived.

A community can’t be created just by making all the stores look the same,

they said.

Still, these problems are minor compared to a typical redevelopment plan,

which comes with a multimillion-dollar taxpayer price tag attached.

And there is plenty of time to work out the details and to ensure that

the improvements are substantial, lasting, worth the cost and acceptable

to the community.

Already, the plans have been in the works for about six years, and the

project isn’t scheduled to be finished until 2004. With an impressive

group backing the proposal, including Wade Roberts, garden director of

the Sherman Library & Gardens, Buzz Jackson, head of the Chamber of

Commerce, and Ed Selich, chairman of the Planning Commission, there is

every reason to believe that the plan will turn out as good as it looks.

Corona del Mar businesses need an anchor, a section of the town that will

draw people in and make them stop in their tracks.

This plan, eventually, could provide it.