Council denies Home Ranch rehearing

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- Expecting the City Council to deny a request to reopen

the Home Ranch hearing, local labor union officials did not send their

attorney to Monday’s meeting to argue for a rehearing.

And as guessed, council members voted 4 to 1 to deny the request, with

Councilwoman Karen Robinson dissenting.

“I hear no new evidence. I don’t believe there is any need to reopen

the hearing,” Mayor Libby Cowan said.

Michael E. Wall, an environmental attorney based in San Francisco,

represents the Service Employees International Union but was not present

at the meeting.

Anastasia Christman, a research analyst for the labor union, was in

the audience but did not speak up during the meeting.

“We felt like the filing spoke for itself. It wasn’t a huge surprise

that the rehearing was denied,” Christman said.

Last week, Wall formally requested that Home Ranch discussions be

reopened to further investigate the lack of affordable housing. The

development in question -- on 93 acres of former lima bean farm just

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

homes and a mix of commercial and industrial land use.

Labor union officials representing janitorial employees claim the Home

Ranch project will bring hundreds of low-paying jobs while providing no

affordable homes to house the workers. The homes on the site will be

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

City Attorney Jerry Scheer said the original rehearing submission to

the city was a self-contained document and that labor union lawyers were

not required to be there in person to have a formal action taken.

Although a personal appearance was not required, CouncilmanGary

Monahan said the failure to show up was unprofessional.

“It just goes to show that they are not really serious about the

issues surrounding Home Ranch,” Monahan said.

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

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

Christman said they are following the referendum campaign, led by Costa

Mesa Citizens for Responsible Growth, and getting some of the union

members involved.

“We have members who are residents of the city, so they are eligible

to be part of that process. But we also have members in other [cities]

that we have to decide how to best represent also,” Christman said.