City weighs condo limits

Despite a desire to increase home ownership in Costa Mesa, city leaders are considering new limits on the practice of subdividing apartment buildings so units can be sold individually.

Changes to Costa Mesa city zoning standards could mean apartment complexes built more than 40 years ago and multi-tenant industrial parks on the Westside can’t be subdivided and sold as separate units.

Earlier this year, concerns arose that selling older apartments might be sticking first-time buyers with faulty plumbing or other infrastructure, and that allowing Westside industrial parks to be split and sold off would slow down redevelopment in a run-down part of the city.

The City Council put a halt to both practices, known as condo conversions, passing moratoriums in March and April while new, stricter standards were hashed out. The planning commission today will discuss a draft of those new standards.

In the past, the planning commission and sometimes the council took condo conversion projects on a case-by-case basis, asking owners to make a range of improvements such as replacing windows and doors or refurbishing apartment interiors.

“One of the biggest problems we have on the Westside is parking,” planning Commissioner Jim Righeimer said. “A lot of the condos that we had approved would have as little as 50% of the required parking.”

The new rules would require residential condo conversions to be brought up to the same standards as new construction. The commission also could discuss whether to have a “sunset” date after which condo conversions wouldn’t be allowed, if buildings more than 40 years old should be subdivided, and whether industrial buildings on the Westside should be sold by individual unit. The theory is it’s harder to redevelop a parcel with multiple, independent owners.

“You need to help out the new stuff, which is going to promote the area,” Righeimer said.

The key goal of the new rules is to require quality and safety when industrial or residential units are sold, said City Councilman Eric Bever, who pushed for new standards.

“What I would like to see is that the guidelines that we establish ensure that any condo conversions that are done benefit the community today and into the future,” he said.

The planning commission meets at 6:30 p.m. today at 77 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa.