Costa Mesa delays changes to development codes

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- The City Council unanimously agreed Monday to postpone

making a decision on a proposed overhaul of the city’s residential

development codes until at least May.

City officials extended a moratorium on new, two-story, single-family

developments and second-story additions. City staff will use the time for

an extensive public notification campaign that will include sending

mailers to every residential property in the city, running several

newspaper advertisements and holding a public forum on the issue.

“I think we’re not there yet, but I hope in the next six weeks we can

get there,” said Councilman Gary Monahan, who expressed concern two weeks

ago that the city did not do a good job in notifying homeowners about the

upcoming changes. “With my wife and four kids, I need a bigger house and

I can’t afford to buy a new one. The only way I can do it is to build

onto my house. If we cut back second-story additions, families like mine

can’t do it.”

The new standards would affect the design and construction of

two-story homes and second-story additions in all residential zones

throughout the city.

The revisions would require bigger lots, larger driveways, more

off-street parking, more distance between main buildings in multifamily

developments and a more extensive review process for new developments, as

well as for major remodels such as second-story room additions.

The changes also would reduce the maximum allowed building height and

increase the amount of landscaping required. Finally, developers would

have to follow stricter architectural design standards, including having

more variety in building heights and roof forms, more offsets and

building projections in home facades and enhanced detailing.In June, the

council established a temporary moratorium on small-lot multifamily

developments throughout Costa Mesa in an effort to preserve the

Eastside’s neighborhood character. In December, the council extended the

freeze to give the city more time to work on the new building standards.

The council on Jan. 15 also imposed a moratorium on new single-family

houses and remodels.

Most of the several resident who spoke on the issue didn’t favor at

least some aspect of the proposed revisions.

“I feel the notification was totally inadequate,” said resident Bob

Fernandez. “Your average citizen is not going to be able to evaluate

this. There are a lot of impacts, I don’t think people really

understand.”