EDITORIAL

Sometimes, the only way to fix bad planning is to change it from the

ground up.

Last week, the Costa Mesa Planning Commission took the city’s first

step toward remedying such a problem in the Mesa del Mar area by

recommending the El Camino Center be replaced by single-family homes.

The City Council should follow that lead, but with some caution.

The reason for the renovation is clear. The area surrounding the

now-rundown center is all housing, which leaves it out of place and, in

the words of one commissioner, well past its usefulness to the community.

Neighbors almost uniformly support the housing plan. But the change is

not going to be easy on the businesses in the center or the patrons who

frequent them. To ease the transition, it is imperative that the the city

ensure the businesses forced to move are given aid in landing somewhere

else, as was done when Harbor Center was redone.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much that can be done for customers of the

center, many of whom are Latino and say they will be inconvenienced if

the businesses move.

With most of the neighbors in support, there is little reason for the

council to balk at the plans, which still must be worked out in detail

but are expected to include about two dozen homes.

Those customers did raise troubling issues after the Planning

Commission’s decision, however, saying that while many attended the

commission meeting, they don’t understand English well and didn’t know

they could speak out against the plan. Others suggested the businesses

are being pushed out because they are owned by Latinos.

The first of these is relatively easily remedied.

The council simply needs to do whatever it can to ensure its meetings

are understandable, and not just for an English-Spanish language barrier.

The council would be smart to remember that much of its meetings are

conducted in “government-speak,” which is often undecipherable to just

about everyone in the audience, even fluent English speakers.

The second charge is more disturbing, and while difficult to prove or

disprove, the council needs to reassure residents that there is no

unseemly motive behind the plan.

Having done so, it should then support the best project possible.