City Council sets annual community goals

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- Among the list of top priorities for the City Council

over the next few years will be the preservation of city art, cracking

down on loiterers and figuring out how to rezone the Westside bluffs.

Those decisions came as the council met this week to narrow down what

it hopes to accomplish during the coming years.

At the Monday meeting, council members approved 18 goals that were

outlined and discussed at a special Saturday meeting last month. During

that meeting, the council, the Planning Commission and the Parks,

Recreational Facilities and Parkways Commission identified the issues

they want resolved.

Finance Director Marc Puckett said there have been 202 community

objectives outlined, with 138 completed.

City leaders also will focus on guaranteeing the use of half the

anticipated revenues from the future Ikea furniture store -- slated to be

built on the Home Ranch site just north of the San Diego Freeway -- to

fund a bond to place utilities underground citywide.

This was the first year the two commissions joined the council in

creating community goals.

All goals laid out by council members were approved, except those from

Councilman Chris Steel. Only one of Steel’s three community objectives

survived the scrutiny of his colleagues. The council agreed to support

incentives to developers who wish to convert various Westside properties

to owner-occupied housing.

Councilman Gary Monahan questioned Steel’s suggestion to regulate

charitable organizations in the city. The objective was too broad and

opened up the city to a variety of legal trouble, Monahan said.

“What size charities are we talking about? Where are they located?”

Monahan asked. “I think we would be sending staff on a huge wild goose

chase.”

After explaining his opposition, Monahan made a motion -- which was

immediately seconded -- and just as Mayor Linda Dixon began calling for a

vote, Steel finally got a word in.

“Wait a minute!” Steel interrupted. “We have problems here, and they

are one of the big causes of the problems in this city. There is no

question in the eyes of most people that [large charities] are a magnet

for many of the problems.”

His last-minute plea was dismissed, as his colleagues voted down his

proposal by a 4-1 vote. Steel dissented.

Although Steel had no support with the previous goal, he found an

unusual ally in Councilwoman Libby Cowan when his community objective to

more strictly limit some kinds of commercial uses on 19th Street and

Placentia Avenue was scrutinized.

Steel wanted to limit the number of businesses such as liquor stores,

check-cashing outlets, pawn shops, nightclubs and massage parlors along

portions of the two streets.

The majority of the council reasoned that the proposed redevelopment

for the western part of the city would cover the issue without having an

additional goal outlined.

“I support what council member Steel is trying to do, but this is just

another layer,” Monahan said.

The vote was close, but again the majority voted to drop the

objective. Cowan and Steel dissented.

Steel’s weren’t the only goals under fire. The water conservation

effort suggested by the Planning Commission -- suggesting an ordinance to

encourage conservation from local hotels -- barely earned a majority

vote.

Resident Tom Egan suggested that all the revenue created by the

recently approved development be devoted to “improving the quality of

life” for Costa Mesans. The loud outcry against the project made it

evident that people were not necessarily dissatisfied with the specific

project but with growth and development in general, Egan said. He

suggested the money be used to plant trees and support slower growth

methods.

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

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