Inside CITYHALL

WHAT HAPPENED: The Planning Commission on Monday approved asphalt

paving, a 6-foot-high block wall and landscaping on the west part of a

property at 1640 Babcock St.

The changes will create an impound yard for a towing business,

Southside Towing, owned by Richard Rodriguez.

WHAT IT MEANS: As part of a conditional-use permit, the property

owner, William Huscroft Jr., must clean up the rest of the property.

The commission gave Huscroft nine months to remove any vehicles,

boats, trailers or debris from the east part of the property and 24

months to sort through the contents of 11 outdoor containers, thought to

include potentially significant historic artifacts.

Commissioner Bruce Garlich said the commission decided it would take

the Huscroft family 24 months to inspect, categorize and “find homes for”

the artifacts.

The Huscroft family has only a limited amount of time to work on the

project each week and is dealing with two family members who are ill.

The family is also waiting for the City Council to decide at an

unscheduled future date whether to restore the Huscroft House, a

two-story, Craftsman-style house formerly owned by the Huscroft family.

The city may want the artifacts if the house is restored and used as a

museum, Garlich said.

In December, the council approved the restoration of the house --

donated to the city by Eric Cernich, a developer and Costa Mesa resident

who bought it from the Huscroft family, for use as part of a cultural

museum at Fairview Park, but in February voted to have a public hearing

to determine if it’s worth the cost.

The council earlier this month postponed making a decision on the

issue to get additional information on the house from the city’s Cultural

Arts and Historical Resources Committee.

The family will give status reports on the cleanup project every three

months.

WHAT THEY SAID: “All of this discussion had to do with the rest of the

property, not towing business,” Garlich said. “All of the property had to

be brought into conformance, and Mr. Rodriguez’s business was an innocent

bystander of some of these other issues.”

VOTE: 5-0 to approve

WHAT HAPPENED: The commission approved a fire lane for a future

Calvary Church site at 2115 Newport Blvd.

WHAT IT MEANS: The 20-foot-wide driveway, requested by the Fire

Department, will be gated and only used by emergency vehicles.

The lane will be blocked from residential properties by landscaping

and a 4-foot screening wall.

VOTE: 5-0 to approve

NEXT MEETING:

WHAT: Regular Costa Mesa Planning Commission meeting

WHERE: Costa Mesa City Hall, 77 Fair Drive

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. April 9

INFO: (714) 754-5245