Home Ranch rehearing requested

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- As opposition to the approval of the Home Ranch project

mounts, a labor union lawyer has requested a rehearing of the project,

saying the city did not address concerns between the jobs and housing

imbalance.

Michael Wall, an environmental attorney hired by the Service Employees

International Union, plans to address the council tonight to ask that the

Home Ranch discussions be reopened to further investigate the lack of

affordable housing, union officials said.

Such a rehearing is often considered the first step before a lawsuit,

but union officials would not confirm any plans to sue the city.

Anastasia Christman, a research analyst for the labor union, said a

lawsuit is a possibility but only the rehearing is being pursued right

now.

“We still think the actions and comments of the City Council did not

address critical problems with the project. This is a formal request to

reopen and rehear the discussion,” Christman said.

The Home Ranch project -- on 93 acres of former lima bean farm just

north of the San Diego Freeway -- calls for a flagship Ikea store, 192

homes and a mix of commercial and industrial land use.

Labor union officials representing janitorial employees claim the

development will bring hundreds of low-paying jobs while providing no

affordable homes to house the workers. The homes on the Home Ranch site

will be owner-occupied and start in the mid-$200,000 range.

City Manager Allan Roeder said housing concerns were addressed during

the public hearings, but labor union officials simply didn’t like what

they heard. The council is in a tough position, Roeder said, because

resident outcry has called for only owner-occupied housing on the site,

which reduces the density of the homes on the project.

“Whichever way one might turn on this, someone is going to be

dissatisfied,” Roeder said.

Lacking more affordable homes in the project, Christman said the city

should require developer C.J. Segerstrom & Sons to contribute to

organizations that promote affordable housing on a regional scale.

“If they can’t build more houses on Home Ranch site, it doesn’t mean

they can’t offset the imbalance in other ways,” Christman said.

Paul Freeman, spokesman for C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, has consistently

defended the developer. He has noted that the original plan for the site,

which proposed 366 homes, met with considerable opposition and that, in

response, the Segerstroms changed the project to include only

owner-occupied housing.

“Groups like Habitat for Humanity and other groups that work to

provide affordable housing are very important and our company supports

them in various efforts,” Freeman said.

But it is not the responsibility of the developer on this project, he

added.

The development agreement provides substantial community benefits as

it stands, he said.

City attorneys were unavailable for comment on the issue.

Council members will decide tonight whether to grant a rehearing. If

it is granted, it will be scheduled for a future meeting.

If the request is denied, Christman said the union would watch the

developments closely and then decide what course of action to take.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .

FYI

What: City Council meeting

When: 6:30 p.m., today

Where: City Hall, 77 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

Information: (714) 754-5221