Inside CITY HALL

WHAT HAPPENED: The City Council on Monday denied a request to build a

garage at 263 Costa Mesa St.

The Planning Commission previously denied the request for a

966-square-foot garage because it would not comply with its zoning, but

Councilman Gary Monahan appealed the decision.

The owner, Jerry Palanjian, said he was willing to revise the plans to

make the garage more compatible with the neighborhood.

WHAT IT MEANS: Palanjian will not be able to build the garage.

Mayor Libby Cowan said the neighborhood was rezoned to a lower density

since the home was built and that the council must uphold the decision by

voting only for changes that match the newer zoning.

“We hear all the time about density and this is an opportunity to do

something about it,” he said. “This neighborhood has been [lower density

zoning] for 40 years. For example, I’ll use the bluffs. If you think

rezoning will change things overnight, you’re wrong. This is 40 years in

the making. This is our opportunity to show we believe in what this

council has done.”

WHAT THEY SAID: Monahan, who wanted to grant the request, said the

decision would keep homes from being improved.

“We will be setting a precedent here, telling homeowners on the

Eastside not to make improvements to their homes,” he said. “Mr.

Palanjian wants to improve his property, his neighbor is OK with it, and

we are telling him to go away. I find that a precedent I have a very,

very hard time stomaching.”

VOTE: 4-1 to deny, with Monahan dissenting

WHAT HAPPENED: The City Council rejected a pilot program that would

have prohibited parking in the Mesa Del Mar tract on street-sweeping

days.

If the proposed six-month pilot program had been approved, city

officials would have studied the neighborhood to determine if the program

could work citywide.

Peter Naghavi, transportation services manager, said he recommended

Mesa Del Mar for the pilot program because it includes a school,

businesses, 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 IT MEANS: The city’s staff is looking for other neighborhoods for

the six-month study.

Naghavi said getting cars off the street for sweeping would allow the

city to clean more effectively and to keep leaves and other debris from

draining into the ocean.

Councilwoman Karen Robinson also asked staff to look into the

possibility of drain inserts that would catch debris before it flows into

the ocean.

Most Mesa Del Mar residents said their streets are already clean and

that they would encourage their neighbors to voluntarily move their cars

on street-sweeping days.

One resident, Linda Siegal, spoke in favor of the program, saying her

street doesn’t get cleaned well because cars are always parked along it.

“You can put one of those street-sweeping signs in front of my house,”

she said. “It’s needed.”

People throughout the city can already get signs posted on their

streets to prohibit parking on street-sweeping days by submitting a

petition signed by more than 50% of the street’s residents.

WHAT THEY SAID: “I appreciate your concern for keeping our streets

clean, and the street I live on is very clean,” said Michael Dilsisian, a

Mesa Del Mar resident. “The neighbors make an effort to move their cars

for street sweeping and those who don’t sweep and clean their part of the

street themselves. I’m opposed to the program. We don’t need any more

signs, policing or ticketing to park on our own streets.”

VOTE: 4-1 to deny, with Councilwoman Linda Dixon dissenting

NEXT MEETING

WHAT: Costa Mesa City Council

WHERE: Costa Mesa City Hall, 77 Fair Drive

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. today

CALL: (714) 754-5245