Another way to stay the (golf) course

Costa Mesa, we have a problem. But not to worry, because that is the good news.

Last week, Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor and parks and recreation commission chairwoman Wendy Leece announced a plan that would offer a radical solution to the lack of playing fields in Costa Mesa. They have suggested that the Mesa Linda golf course at the Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club, which the city owns but doesn’t run, be gutted and redesigned as a short “executive” course and the holes along Harbor Boulevard between the Fairview Development Center and Jo Ann Street be redeveloped into playing fields.

Initial response to the plan, first detailed in an article in the Pilot a week ago and then expanded in a commentary in Thursday’s paper, has been largely negative. Among opponents’ concerns have been the loss of revenue to the city; the loss of golf courses for youth and high school teams; and the loss of what is an affordable and well-used course for Costa Mesa residents and nonresidents, alike. There also has been some mild upset that Mansoor and Leece did not talk with the many people ? golfers, coaches, city workers ? potentially affected by the proposal.

For all those reasons, we also think the mayor and parks commissioner’s plan is a poor one. But we are pleased to see the two acknowledge that the lack of playing fields in Costa Mesa is such a big problem that a wild, dramatic and thoroughly outlandish solution is needed.

Instead, might we offer a more modest proposal? It may even sound familiar. Instead of ruining Mesa Linda, why not add two additional lighted fields at the Farm Sports Complex, as has been suggested by the parks and recreation commission and will be considered by the City Council later this month as part of its budgeting for next year?

Yes, adding the lights there will affect a few of the complex’s neighbors, a prospect both Mansoor and Leece seem loath to approve. But given their latest plan, it is now inconceivable that they would not give this much less aggressive proposal their ok. Surely, Mansoor and Leece must acknowledge that if the lack of playing fields is such a tremendous problem that they are willing to mess with the quality of life for hundreds ? if not thousands ? of people, it is worth making a decision that will diminish a few people’s quality of life slightly.