COSTA MESA Save Our Youth executive director...

COSTA MESA

Save Our Youth executive director quits for new gig

Save Our Youth Executive Director Oscar Santoyo resigned to give

himself more time with his family. Santoyo began work last week at

the Boys and Girls Club of San Juan Capistrano.

The City Council on Monday approved residents’ request for a

rehearing on the high-density condominiums planned for downtown. The

plan calls for 161 upscale condos at 1901 Newport Blvd. After two

deadlocks, Councilwoman Libby Cowan cast the deciding vote for the

rehearing.

And the request for a rehearing for the community garden on

Hamilton Street was also approved. The council approved it after

previously rejecting a $71,000 bid for construction on the garden.

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

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

BUSINESS

Omelette Parlor will close

its doors later this month

Susan Adkins, owner of The Omelette Parlor, said she would close

the popular local eatery later this month because she has not been

able to work out a lease extension with her landlord.

Adkins says the Vons Companies, which owns the shopping center at

17th Street, are forcing her out of a retail space she has held since

the breakfast-and-lunch restaurant opened in 1983. Adkins is also

closing adjacent bar Chester Drawers.

Representatives at the Vons Companies, which is owned by Safeway

Inc., haven’t returned calls to discuss the issue. Adkins says the

company flat-out refused to re-negotiate her 15-year lease, which

included a five-year option she exercised in 1998.

The parlor is expected to close about a week before the lease

expires June 30.

In other news, the county Board of Supervisors tentatively

approved a plan to bring two new airlines to John Wayne Airport.

Frontier Airlines, which is based in Denver, would be given three

daily flights. ATA Airlines, which flies out of Midway International

Airport in Chicago, would add two daily flights.

The new flights could be in place this summer. The board is

expected to give its formal approval to the plan on July 24.

* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment, business and politics. He

may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

paul.clinton@latimes.com.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Police search for two men in connection with shooting

Costa Mesa Police are looking for two men in connection with a

gang-related shooting that happened Sunday night on the city’s

Westside.

The victim, a 20-year-old Costa Mesa resident, took a bullet in

his back, but the injury was not life-threatening, officials said.

Police said the victim and another man were standing in the alley

behind the 800 block of Center Street when they were approached by at

least two other men. After exchanging a few words, one of the men

pulled out a gun and fired a round, which hit the victim, officials

said.

Police do not have a description of the shooter.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.

NEWPORT BEACH

Planning commissioner resigns to focus on art

Planning Commissioner Shant Agajanian stepped down to move to

Joshua Tree and pursue art. The City Council is interviewing

candidates to complete Agajanian’s term, which ends next year.

The city and the county water agency have worked out an agreement

on how to deal with a clogged storm drain that has created an

environmental nuisance. The city has added filters and will step up

pollution enforcements in the Seaview area surrounding the storm

drain.

A years-long plan to use the empty and unsightly San Joaquin

Reservoir to store reclaimed water. The Irvine Ranch Water District

will give a presentation on Tuesday to the City Council on the plan

and on the environmental safeguards the district will employ.

A city attorney’s report stopped short of saying that Councilman

Dick Nichols acted inappropriately when he implied that someone had

been bribed in a case involving home renovations. But in laying out

the council’s options, City Attorney Bob Burnham did use some harsh

terms to describe Nichols’ comment.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.