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.
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