Huscroft House still short on restoration funding

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- Debates surrounding the historic Huscroft House have

often been heated, but the fact that the Craftsman-style house landed in

the Home Ranch development agreement lighted a flame under Councilwoman

Linda Dixon.

Dixon said she was shocked the building was included in the Home Ranch

agreement and said she learned of it while looking through her packet.

She has received increased criticism about endorsement of the project and

resents any implication that the $200,000 from the Segerstroms --

earmarked for the house’s restoration -- influenced her vote.

“My decision was not based on any aspect of the development

agreement,” Dixon said. “My decision was based solely on what I thought

was the best use for the land.”

The City Council approved final plans for the Home Ranch project --

which includes a 308,000-square-foot Ikea furniture store, a corporate

headquarters for Emulex, nearly 800,000 square feet of office space and

192 homes -- by a 4-1 vote Monday.

Because Dixon was vocal about saving the Huscroft House in council

meetings in the spring, she knew assumptions could be made about how the

item got included in the development agreement. She expressed her concern

from the dais at Monday’s meeting.

Dixon was angry that a 20-year development agreement was back on the

table when she thought developer C.J. Segerstrom & Sons agreed to reduce

it to 15. She implied the developers may have been trying to appease her

by contributing toward the house.

“You know I was very much in favor of saving the Huscroft House, and

now it’s in the development agreement,” she said to Paul Freeman, a

spokesman for C.J. Segerstrom & Sons. “I don’t know how that came about,

but the house is not nearly as important to me as a 15-year development

agreement.”

Her comment was met with applause from the audience.

Councilman Chris Steel jumped in to defend Freeman, saying the money

for the house was his suggestion.

“I brought up the house. I thought if the Segerstroms would pay for

it, we wouldn’t have to use taxpayer money,” Steel said.

Regardless of whose idea it was, $200,000 does little to solve the

city’s Huscroft House dilemma, said Donna Theriault, a management analyst

with the city.

The money would only cover costs to move the house -- last estimated

at $175,000 -- but would not cover any restoration or maintenance

expenses, Theriault said.

“It just gives the City Council one more thing to consider, but it’s

not enough to help much of anything,” she said.

The Huscroft House was on the agenda Monday night, but council members

continued the item to include an analysis of the $200,000. The money does

not require the city to relocate the house; it only gives them another

option.

“There are no strings attached,” Theriault said.

The city only has one formal proposal from a Newport Beach woman who

wants to move the house to Fairview Park and operate a private museum and

reception hall. Earlier staff reports called the proposal problematic

because it does not fit into the park’s master plan.

Theriault said the council could decide to reopen the bidding and

offer to move the home with the Segerstrom money. But that could border

on using public funds as an incentive, she said.