Costa Mesa council to hear appeal seeking to keep youth arts center out of business park
Costa Mesa City Council members are expected to decide Tuesday whether to allow a youth arts program to move into a business park near John Wayne Airport.
They could uphold the Planning Commission’s approval of the plan or opt to side with area business owners who object to the proposal and have sued over a recent council decision to allow an Islamic group to open a gathering center in the same park, at 3184 Airway Ave.
The Arts & Learning Conservatory, an educational nonprofit organization that offers performing arts and musical theater classes, is looking to move into Suite A in the park.
The conservatory plans to use the space for administrative purposes and after-school programs, as well as to host a summer day camp and up to six theatrical productions on weekends throughout the year.
The property the conservatory is looking to buy is currently used by Berean Community Church, which is planning to move.
The Planning Commission unanimously approved the conservatory’s proposal June 13.
Four days later, members of the Koll-Irvine Community Assn., which encompasses the business park located south of the 405 Freeway next to the airport, appealed the decision to the City Council.
Michael Leifer, a lawyer representing the association, wrote in the appeal that the commission’s decision “was improper and an abuse of discretion.”
Particularly at issue is the business park’s shared parking, which the conservatory is looking to access.
Koll-Irvine’s lawyers say the association owns and manages the shared parking area, so the city doesn’t have the right to allow the conservatory to use it without the association’s approval.
The conservatory’s supporters praise its programs and offerings, such as its partnership with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.
“The Arts & Learning Conservatory is widely known throughout our communities for making arts accessible to students throughout our district and beyond,” school board member Martha Fluor wrote in a letter to the council in July.
She praised the conservatory’s teaching staff for “caring deeply about our students, inspiring them to engage, perform and create in thoughtfully crafted productions which meet the needs of our diverse communities.”
Council members were originally scheduled to vote on the conservatory’s proposed move on Aug. 2 but decided to delay their decision so city staff members and attorneys could wade through the legal issues surrounding the appeal.
Those concerns stem from a lawsuit Koll-Irvine filed seeking to overturn a council vote in March to allow the Ismailis, a branch of Shia Islam, to open a 6,000-square-foot center in Suite J at the business park.
The lawsuit contains allegations similar to the association’s appeal against the conservatory’s proposal.
Peter Kim, senior pastor of the Berean church, previously told the Daily Pilot that he thinks the association’s issue isn’t with his church selling its space to the conservatory but rather “lingering resentment” over the council’s decision to allow the Ismailis to open their center.
The Berean property could be sold to another church or business that would need more parking than the conservatory, Kim said.
“If they’re so concerned about parking and that was the real issue, they would actually be thankful, you would think,” he said.
The City Council will consider the appeal of the conservatory approval at its meeting starting at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.
Twitter: @LukeMMoney
