Opponents of Home Ranch get the floor
COSTA MESA -- Opponents of the Home Ranch project will get their
chance tonight to speak -- and speak and speak and speak.
At least four hours have been designated to anti-HomeRanch
presentations at a special meeting of the City Council tonight.
Costa Mesa Citizens for Responsible Growth are slated to give a
three-hour presentation highlighting what they see as the traffic and
environmental problems with the proposed development while members of a
local labor group will speak about the jobs and housing imbalance they
believe is created by the project.
“Hopefully we will present our argument clearly, articulately
beautifully and the council will have no choice but to side with us,”
Sandy Genis, a member of Costa Mesa Citizens for Responsible Growth and a
former mayor, said, only half joking.
Residents who support the Home Ranch project, as well as thedevelopers
themselves, said they will not make presentations because it is clear the
night is designated for the opposing view point.
The Home Ranch project would convert about 93 acres of the Segerstrom
family’s lima bean field off the San Diego Freeway into a mix of
single-family homes, office and industrial space and a flagship Ikea
furniture store.
To do so, developers have asked for amendments to the city’s general
plan to change current industrial and residential zones to allow for
retail and commercial office space. C.J. Segerstrom & Sons also has asked
for an increase in the amount of allowed trips to the site -- also known
as a “trip budget.”
Residents who oppose the project say the general plan should be
honored by the Segerstroms, if not to the letter, at least in spirit.
Robin Leffler, vice president of Costa Mesa Citizens for Responsible
Growth, charges the developers are just trying to get away with building
higher density buildings than the site allows.
“[The general plan] calls for more open space and lower density
buildings -- and those are good things for Costa Mesa,” Leffler said.
Blanca Gallegos, spokeswoman for the Service Employees International
Union Local 1877, said her group will detail the project’s failure to
address the concerns of the low-wage janitorial workers who will be
unable to live anywhere near the work site because of a shortage of
housing.
Attorney Michael Wall will give an hour presentation for Justice for
Janitors -- a faction of the union.
Plans for the site have already cleared their first hurdle -- the
Planning Commission -- where they gained a unanimous recommendation for
approval. It is now up to the City Council to decide the fate of the
project.
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