El Camino neighbors complain
Deirdre Newman
A group of Mesa del Mar residents say they are not satisfied with the
renovation of a strip mall in their neighborhood and instead want the
property owners to follow through on plans to build single-family
homes on the property or sell it to a developer that will.
Residents had filed a slew of complaints with the city to get El
Camino Partners to clean up the El Camino Plaza, on El Camino Drive
near La Salle Avenue. With the prodding of a code enforcement center,
the owners made $75,000 worth of cosmetic improvements, which wrapped
up two weeks ago.
But many residents are not bowled over by the results. They say
it’s time for the owners to finish what they started in 2001 when
they got the property rezoned to single-family housing.
“You just can’t cover up [a bad-looking center]’,” said Jeff
Wilcox, president of the Mesa del Mar Homeowners Assn. “And that’s
what it boils down to. There’s tree stumps still in the parking lot
where they took down trees, the landscaping is atrocious, the
building has been painted over. It’s not a viable situation anymore.”
El Camino Partners purchased the center about two years ago,
intending to tear it down and build housing. In June 2001, the City
Council rezoned the center for single-family housing. The association
supported the plan and rallied to get a petition with about 300
signatures in favor of the change.
The plaza includes a burger joint, a liquor store and a
supermarket. Alden Management Group repainted the buildings, repaved
the parking lot, fixed wood trim that had extensive dry rot and added
new signage.
Planning Commissioner Katrina Foley, who lives in the area, said
the owners only did the minimum to their property and that was only
to avoid fines.
“They refuse to update and modernize the center for both the
residential neighborhood and their own tenants,” Foley wrote in an
e-mail.
Mohammed Baghdadi, a vice president with Alden, said he had no
comment.
Wilcox said a majority of homeowners don’t want a commercial
project in the neighborhood anymore and that few residents use it.
But Juan Sandoval, the owner of Mesa Village Liquor in the plaza,
said he has heard the opposite.
“They’re used to this being here,” Sandoval said of the plaza.
“The bottom line is whoever owns this has the power to do whatever
they want.”
About a quarter of the center is vacant. Ripped construction paper
hangs in some of the vacant storefronts. Sandoval said he believed
the plaza has such a high vacancy rate because the owners charge so
much rent.
Mike Sun of Peninsula Partners, one of the owners of the plaza,
was not available for comment.
* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)
574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.
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