Residents fight plan for condos

Deirdre Newman

Councilman Allan Mansoor and a group of residents that fought the

Home Ranch project are fighting high-density condominiums planned for

the heart of downtown.

On Monday, both filed for a rehearing of the Redevelopment

Agency’s April 14 approval of 61 upscale condominiums at 1901 Newport

Blvd. Rutter Development plans to add the condos to the property

hosting the Spanish mission-style Newport Plaza building. A

Vegas-style nightclub has also been added to the Newport Plaza

building but awaits further approval from the city’s fire marshal.

Mansoor said his main concern is with density. The resident group,

Costa Mesa Citizens for Responsible Growth, says the report created

to assess environmental effects is inconsistent and contradictory.

“Very clearly, they needed to correct the [report] before [the

project] is approved, and anything that is built on that foundation

is faulty,” said Robin Leffler, who filed the request on the group’s

behalf.

The condos will be housed in four four-story buildings measuring

about 50 feet high. The project also features a two-level underground

parking structure and a five-level aboveground parking structure.

Mansoor was one of two Redevelopment Agency members who voted

against the project and dissented again Monday when the City Council

approved it.

He said the density concerns him because of the repercussions on

traffic and shadow effects.

“I think all of those can be improved with less density,” Mansoor

said.

The residents’ group main gripe with the environmental report is

with the analysis of the shadow the buildings will produce. The

report states that only 20 minutes of a shadow effect would occur in

the front yards of homes on Bernard Street, behind the project,

between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. -- which is not considered significant.

The group contends that the same report includes a revised

computer-generated shadow analysis that shows the shadow effect will

last for three hours in the same time frame.

“Although this matter was raised at the public hearing, the

question was never answered as to which set of information was

correct,” the application for the rehearing states. “Without accurate

information, the true impacts of the project cannot be known.”

Marilyn Shaw, who lives on Bernard Street, said she is concerned

that the buildings’ height will darken her yard.

“If they’re as high as they say they will be, it will [kill] our

plants,” Shaw said. “We were told [by the group] that most of the

day, we’re not going to have much sun on our property.”

David Eadie, chief executive of Rutter Development, said he

remains convinced that the comprehensive review of his project was

based on sound information.

“I believe the findings of facts that were relied upon were true

and correct,” Eadie said. “The exhaustive scrutiny over the past 13

months by the staff and the [Planning Commission] and the council had

produced a thorough understanding of the matter before the vote.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.