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.