COMMUNITY COMMENTARY -- Maureen DiDomenico

I have lived in Costa Mesa for more than 35 years and have watched its

growth from the date when the Segerstroms agreed to place South Coast

Plaza on the Costa Mesa side of Sunflower Avenue. Therein lies the

problem: Costa Mesa still had not paid off its debt of gratitude.

Costa Mesa was considered the poor stepsister without any community

identity. One of its little recognized assets was a rather unconventional

theater group housed in a converted dime store on Newport Boulevard.

South Coast Repertory’s board of trustees determined that Costa Mesa

should be the beneficiary of this increasingly popular theater company.

The Segerstrom family donated the land. More gratitude.

There was a lunch meeting with Henry Segerstrom and the mayor of Costa

Mesa during which I, a planning commissioner, was introduced to the

concept of a Century City-type development, whereby the office high-rise

buildings would be accompanied by high-rise condos. This would enable the

office workers to live, work and shop within walking distance, thus

alleviating the traffic. And by the way, here’s more land adjoining South

Coast Repertory for a performing arts center, thus creating a cultural

hub and Costa Mesa became The City of the Arts. Extreme gratitude (but no

housing).

Fast forward to the current development proposal for the Home Ranch

property.

I’ve read the many articles and letters, and noticed the blue and

yellow sign that mysteriously grew out of the bean field. When I read

about the offer by the Segerstrom group of $2 million to Costa Mesa’s

schools, my cynical thought was, “Now they are really going too far.” It

was so obviously a way to split the community and shift the focus away

from the inherent negative impact of the entire project, particularly the

Ikea traffic problem.

More letters to the editor received my growing attention. It was the

Daily Pilot front page article quoting the Ikea project manager as

saying, “We really are good neighbors” that finally demanded my own

response.

Should we continue, out of gratitude, to tolerate such a neighbor?

Must we accept Ikea because there will be a supervised children’s play

area much nicer than the pill box of balls they have at the Tustin store?

Certainly, we’ll be the envy of Newport Beach. But even with this

eighth wonder, the project manager “does not expect customers to travel

from outside the local area.” Of course not. The freeway traffic delays

from any place farther afield would incur the need of any overnight stay

at a local hotel. Not a bad consequence, and it would add to that

$1-million revenue that so intrigues Councilman Gary Monahan.

But what happens when every single household within a 15-mile radius

(the “bulk of Ikea shoppers”) has fully furnished its house with Ikea

furniture? Do they promise not to advertise in Riverside? Can a resident

of Fullerton sneak in? How about those border-skipping, Generation X-ers

from Rancho Santa Margarita who will covet our supervised children’s play

area? I know a lady from Tiburon who would gladly disguise herself and

offer a fake resident card in order to avoid the drive to Ikea in San

Diego.

Is this lunacy or what? Surely, after a fit of the giggles, our

Planning Commission and City Council will return to serious weighing of

the appropriateness of this development. The paltry $2 million offered to

the schools must be removed from the discussion. Gratitude for past

Segerstrom contributions has no place when determining the merits of the

Home Ranch proposal and the future community good.

* MAUREEN DIDOMENICO is a Costa Mesa resident.