EDITORIAL

If anything, Michael Schrock’s a good sport. How else can we explain

the Costa Mesa man whose Cecil Place home project, since August, has run

into unhappy neighbors, unhappy city officials and unhappy city

representatives?

And yet, seven months later, Schrock’s still around.

On Tuesday, he made somewhat of a concession when he revised his

initial proposal that included adding two homes to a site that already

hosts one house. The new plan will split his 18,000-square-foot property

and add only one new home to the site.

The Costa Mesa Planning Commission on Monday suggested that Schrock

make the change to eventually appease City Council members.

One city planner suggested he demolish the existing two-story house

and then build two homes. Schrock said he has already spent thousands

renovating the existing house and plans to move into it soon. A long

driveway from Cecil Place would access the second home in the new plan.

When Schrock originally spent $800,000 to buy the property, in the 200

block of Cecil Place, he could have rearranged the property lines and

added the two new homes. But then the city’s Planning Department

recommended he change the site’s zoning to better the project. But when

he applied for that, the same Planning Department recommended the City

Council deny it.

A good sport indeed.

We can only hope now that the city’s planners, commissioners and

council members accept Schrock’s compromise and stop making him jump

through unnecessary hurdles. We also hope his neighbors appreciate what

he has gone through and is doing to appease everyone.

We congratulate Schrock for keeping up the good, patient work.