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.