Look over the Westside differs

There appear to be some common misconceptions regarding the rezoning

of the “Westside bluffs” for homes (Letter to the Editor, “Rezoning

bluffs will aid Westside,” Wednesday).

The first is that there are still some Costa Mesa bluffs without

homes on them. There are bluffs in Costa Mesa. They are at the end of

Victoria, 18th and 19th streets. Homes have already been built at

those view locations.

If you will drive to the end of 17th and 16th streets, as I have,

you will not see “bluffs” there. If there are bluffs nearby, they are

well over the fence dividing Costa Mesa from Newport Beach. The

Newport land is all currently vacant. This may give one the

perception that a new home on the Costa Mesa side will have a view.

However, anyone owning a new home on the Costa Mesa side, even a

two-story home, will have their view blocked when the Newport land is

built on. Only a few homes on the Costa Mesa side, built on the level

land along that dividing line, will have even this temporary view.

So, no Costa Mesa new home buyers would have permanent ocean views

there. They will have lots of surrounding industrial buildings to

look at, though.

Add to that the schools in the area. How many parents will want

their kids to go to Westside schools when they can go to Kaiser or

Mariners if they buy on the other side of town? Only the ones that

can’t afford the Eastside, I’m afraid.

Now, let’s see what kind of financial sense it makes to build

houses in that industrial area. Say you own a 25,000-square-foot

industrial building on an acre of land. That industrial building is

worth about $2.5 million today. If you tear down the building, the

land is worth, at most, $1.5 million. Who is going to “lose” the

million dollars? The industrial property owners are afraid it will be

them. That’s why they fear “eminent domain.” What happens, in fact,

with “eminent domain,” is that our tax dollars pay for the lost

property value.

Now, multiply that $1 million per acre cost by the whole

industrial area that they propose to rezone. What if the city can’t

afford to use “eminent domain” for the whole rezoned area? That

leaves it up to market forces to cause homes to be built there. That

could be worse financially, for industrial property owners, than

“eminent domain.”

Eventually, some homes would be built. In 25 years, we could be

looking at a greater hodgepodge of housing, surrounded by industrial

buildings, than we have there now. If that occurs, the rezoning of

the “Westside bluffs” for homes, could be the biggest planning

mistake in Costa Mesa history.

MIKE STEINER

Costa Mesa

In his letter, Martin Millard refers to the Westside industrial

area as a lowest and worst use industrial area that looks like the

City of Industry, buggy whip industrial units and that the area will

continue to fester and rot until the industrial buildings (referred

to as the splinter in the sore) are pulled out. The answer in his

opinion is to rezone the area to high-end homes some with views.

This splinter has a few questions regarding this elitist opinion.

What about the thousands of jobs the industrial area provides local

residents? What about the hundreds of senior citizens who live in the

mobile home parks. Surely the elitists would be indignant having to

drive past a mobile home park on the way to their bluff side villa.

What about property rights? As of now I have not heard that a

property owners rights are affected by the city they live in.

This splinter is a metal fabricator/welder. We moved our business

and brought our property on the Westside because its close to our

customers and cooler in the summer, a major issue for those who make

our living with our hands.

The gentleman says our use of property is obscene, that we belong

on flat land that isn’t good for anything else. Last time I looked,

most of Costa Mesa was flat. Using his logic, all you Costa Mesa

flatlanders better move out because the only good use for your

property is industrial.

My advice to the gentleman and others who share his opinion is if

you see the industrial area as obscene, avoid the area because we are

not leaving, this splinter is here to say.

JOHN. T. HAWLEY

Costa Mesa

Martin Millard should go look at the “bluff” area he talks about.

It is either developed with houses in Costa Mesa from 19th Street to

past 18th Street or the remaining area of bluffs is in Newport Beach

covered with oil wells.

The land along Whittier Avenue and east of it is flat land, so

according to Millard, it should be industrial.

A 19th Street bridge over the Santa Ana River is what is needed to

bring the economic pressure to develop 19th Street to significantly

improve that street from west of Whittier to Placentia Avenue. There

are presently road blocks in the residential area west of Placentia

between 19th and Victoria Street to block people from driving from

19th to access the Victoria Street bridge. We need a 19th Street

Bridge as shown on maps for development.

MEL RICHLEY

Cost Mesa