Inside CITY HALL

Jennifer Kho

TOWN CENTER

The council will consider granting a request by Commonwealth Partners,

one of the developers of the Town Center project, to postpone a decision

on its part of the project for 18 months.

The project, which seeks to transform South Coast Metro into a

pedestrian-oriented cultural arts district bordered by Bristol Street,

Sunflower Avenue, Avenue of the Arts and the San Diego Freeway, is a

collaboration between Commonwealth, the Orange County Performing Arts

Center and South Coast Partners, the owner of South Coast Plaza.

The South Coast Partners and the Center’s portions of the project were

approved earlier this year, but Commonwealth’s part has been held up

mainly because of disagreement about the length of time the developer has

to maintain Isamu Noguchi’s California Scenario sculpture garden.

Intense negotiations about a proposed development agreement between

the city and the developer have been ongoing for months.

While both parties at a May 21 meeting finally agreed to require

Commonwealth to maintain the garden for 50 years, issues of parking and

how much money the company will have to provide for the area are keeping

them from reaching an agreement.

WHAT TO EXPECT: The council, which preliminarily approved the 50-year

term May 21, also approved a requirement that the developer provide the

parking and money for the Theater Arts District.

The council could give final approval to that decision at the risk of

not having the developer sign the agreement.

A plan for the Theater Arts District has yet to be drafted and

Commonwealth said it can’t agree to unknown amounts of parking and money.

Developer spokesman Phil Schwartze said he hopes to persuade the city to

agree to a fixed number or a cap on the amount.

If no fixed amount is agreed on, the developer could wait until the

Theater Arts District plan is approved, which would include the amount of

money and parking that would be required, and in turn put those set

amounts into the development agreement at that time.

City staff recommends the council postpone the issue for a couple of

meetings to allow the staff to evaluate Commonwealth’s request for a

lengthier postponement.

RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS

The council will consider giving final approval to new standards for

residential housing.

The discussion was scheduled for the May 21 meeting, but the council

postponed it because preceding issues -- including debate about plans for

East 17th Street -- took the meeting past midnight.

At its May 7 meeting, the council voted 3 to 2 to give preliminary

approval of the standards.

Mayor Libby Cowan and Councilman Gary Monahan dissented on one portion

of the standards, which would require that all home lot sizes be a

minimum 4,000 square feet and an average 4,500 square feet.

The next day, developer Jeff Pratt of El Camino Partners LLC said that

decision would kill his plans to replace the rundown El Camino Shopping

Center with 19 to 29 homes. The Planning Commission had recommended the

council adopt standards calling for minimum lot sizes of 3,000 square

feet with average lot sizes of 3,500 square feet.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Councilman Chris Steel, who voted with the majority

May 7, said May 8 that he would suggest the council reverse its decision

in order to allow the El Camino housing project to occur.

Instead of giving final approval to the proposed standards, the

council could decide to give preliminary approval to standards with a

smaller minimum lot size.

PARKING PROHIBITION STUDY

The City Council will consider approving a pilot program that would

prohibit parking in the Mesa Del Mar tract on street-sweeping days.

The council was scheduled to review the proposed program May 21, but

the issue was postponed because other issues -- including debate about

plans for East 17th Street -- took the meeting past midnight.

If approved, the pilot program would last six months and city

officials would study the neighborhood to determine if the program could

work citywide.

Peter Naghavi, transportation service manager, said the city is

proposing Mesa Del Mar for the pilot program because it includes easy

freeway access, dead-end streets, apartments, single-family homes, short

and regular driveways -- many of the variables that could affect street

cleaning in the rest of the city.

WHAT TO EXPECT: The city staff recommends the council approve the

program.

If approved, the staff will report its findings to the council at the

end of six months.

FYI

*WHAT: Costa Mesa City Council

*WHERE: City Hall, 77 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

*WHEN: 6:30 p.m. today

*INFORMATION: (714) 754-5245