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.
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