LETTER TO THE EDITOR -- Forrest Werner

Costa Mesa Councilman Gary Monahan got it right when he said, “It

won’t be a bean field forever.” Anyone who thinks otherwise isn’t being

very realistic (“Residents wonder if Ikea offer is priceless,” Sept. 3).

Current zoning calls for the property to be used primarily for

warehouses. If you think warehouses are attractive, drive east on Dyer

Road, east of Main Street, and you’ll see warehouses. Long two- and

three-story drab buildings with loading docks for trucks line the north

side of the street. Not only are these buildings unattractive, but they

are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the handling of freight.

We’re talking 18-wheelers here, not pickups. Let’s also look at the jobs

created by this type of operation. Not exactly high-skill, high-tech

employment.

The mix of office, business complex, retail, light industrial and

residential development by C.J. Segerstrom & Sons has a lot more appeal

and benefit to the community than the current general plan offers.

Aesthetics alone with the included landscaping make the project

attractive. Factor in multiple numbers and kinds of employment

opportunities available and the comparison becomes a no-brainer.

Let’s move on to the school foundation proposal. The Segerstrom

developers understand that to attract quality business tenants, there

needs to be a quality, educated work force available. By offering to set

up two foundations to support Costa Mesa and Estancia high schools and

TeWinkle Middle School, they display a willingness to help improve the

educational opportunities for our children, as well as provide quality

employees for their tenants close to home.

I think the contributions to establish the foundations are just the

tip of the iceberg for financial support. After all, the traffic

improvements alone will cost $10 million to $12 million up front, and not

a stone or shovel has been turned to start the development itself.

As a comparison to developer interest in the educational system in a

community, the Irvine Co. gave Newport-Mesa Unified School District a

$5-million endowment, $3.5 million to turn the closed Lincoln

Intermediate School into a state-of-the-art K-6 school and donated 11

acres of land (at about $1 million an acre) for the newly opened Newport

Coast Elementary School. That’s why I say the foundation is only the

beginning. Look at these problems as “opportunities.” If not a bean

field, what?

EDITOR’S NOTE: FORREST WERNER is a Costa Mesa resident and former

Newport-Mesa school board trustee and is president of the Newport-Mesa

Schools Foundation.