Theater and arts district plan OKd

Deirdre Newman

It’s not common for Mayor Gary Monahan to agree with Councilman Chris

Steel, but on Monday night, they found themselves harboring the same

skepticism about getting the city involved in giving art grants.

The City Council considered two plans for a theater and arts

district -- one proposed by staff members and a more complex plan

from Planning Commissioner Katrina Foley that, in addition, would

have created art and music grants for Costa Mesa schools.

While council members lauded Foley’s intent, they rejected her

plan, approving the more basic approach 4 to 1, with Councilwoman

Libby Cowan dissenting.

“Money for schools should come from the school district or private

sources,” Steel said. “I think we need to get back to basics and keep

this program simple.”

“It’s not the role of the City Council to give out grants,”

Monahan said.

The goal of both plans was to emphasize the sense of place that

exists in the theater and arts district and to provide a funding

mechanism for public improvements.

The theater and arts district refers to the area bordered by

Bristol Street on the west, Sunflower Avenue on the north, Avenue of

the Arts on the east and the San Diego Freeway on the south.

A theater and arts district plan was required by the three

development agreements with the Segerstrom Town Center, the

Segerstrom Center for the Arts and Two Town Center. Development

agreements are hashed out before the city gives its approval to

certain projects and usually include the applicants’ committing money

to the city for community benefits in return for entitlements they

receive.

C.J. Segerstrom & Sons is required to fund $1 million in

improvements, and CommonWealth Partners, which owns Two Town Center,

has to pitch in $1.2 million.

The plan approved Monday calls for $1.6 million in improvements to

private property that will benefit the public and $630,000 in

improvements to the public right-of-way.

In adopting this plan, the council made changes, including

eliminating a proposed theater and arts council to oversee the

administration of the plan and deleting language that would have

given the city the unilateral right to allocate unused funds for

additional improvements.

This change in language was in response to objections by the C.J.

Segerstrom & Sons and CommonWealth Partners. Paul Freeman, spokesman

for the Segerstroms, said he was pleased with the council’s decision.

“I think it’s a good outcome in that now it’s clear what some of

the physical improvements will be in the theater arts district,”

Freeman said.

Foley’s plan had called for the formation of a Costa Mesa arts and

music scholar grants program. Since only about $630,000 of the total

would be necessary for the public improvements, Foley’s plan

suggested that at least $300,000 of the rest be allocated for an arts

and music scholar program. This would have funded programs,

productions, courses, field trips and scholarships for Costa Mesa

public school students ages 4 through 18.

Two Sonora Elementary School students were among those who

expressed support for Foley’s plan.

Monahan sympathized with the young students’ desire for more art

and music in school, but said he didn’t feel comfortable setting such

a precedent.

“I admit I’m being the bad guy, but I can’t start down that road,”

Monahan said. “We’re just setting up another program I don’t think

the city can get involved in.”

Foley expressed disappointment with the decision.

“When is our city council going to start listening to residents

and not catering only to the business community?” Foley asked. “They

missed an excellent opportunity for a private-public partnership that

was 100% voluntary by the developers. The city turned their money

away.”

The council also unanimously approved a master plan for Town

Center Drive, which redraws the portion of Town Center Drive between

Park Center Drive and Avenue of the Arts as a pedestrian-oriented

public plaza linking the major arts venues within the South Coast

Plaza Town Center area.

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

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