Council to consider development freeze

Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA -- The City Council is expected to decide tonight whether new

cookie-cutter homes -- popping up like dandelions on the well-watered

lawns in the East Side -- are a large-enough threat to the neighborhood’s

charm to warrant freezing similar developments.

“The East Side is a neighborhood that is losing its character and

quaintness,” said Councilwoman Linda Dixon. “We need to address that

issue until the council can review the zoning there.”

If four of the five council members vote for the moratorium, it would

force a 45-day freeze on any new multihome developments on lots that

previously held one home. The council could continue renewing the

moratorium for up to 22 months. The freeze also would rescind any

Planning Commission approval of multihome tracts in the East Side since

May 15.

To preserve its neighborhood feel, the council in 1992 reduced the number

of housing units allowed on each piece of land in the neighborhood. City

officials earlier this year picked up discussions about imposing further

restrictions or requiring developers to maintain larger back- and

frontyards.

The moratorium would allow the council to create standards for the

neighborhood before any new developments sprout. But Mayor Gary Monahan

said Friday he thought he would vote against the freeze.

“The people this would affect have not been notified,” he said. “This

will put a huge dent in the flexibility of the property. Either they

won’t be able to sell it anymore or it will have a much lower sale

price.”

But Councilwoman Heather Somers, who on Friday said she hadn’t read the

specifics of the proposal, said the new housing tracts also could lower

property values on the East Side.

“The small home projects impact the neighborhood with traffic, trash and

parking problems,” she said.

Somers has previously said the gates around many of the newer tracts

create a feeling of separation from the rest of the neighborhood.

The council will meet at 6:30 p.m. today at City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.