Costa Mesa to discuss three ballot initiatives
Costa Mesa City Council members next week will discuss three city-sponsored November ballot initiatives drafted in response to ones circulated by local residents.
One of the proposed measures council members will discuss Tuesday concerns development and would essentially be a “yes” or “no” vote on the city’s existing zoning and land-use standards, including the recently approved general plan.
If adopted, the city’s measure would also create an “open space and public park impact fee” that would apply to all new development north of the 405 Freeway and west of Fairview Road.
Proceeds from that fee would “be used by the city for the purpose of increasing active recreation, open space and public park facilities within the city,” according to a city staff report.
The measure would also create a seven-member Open Space and Recreation Advisory Committee that would advise the council on the spending of those fee dollars.
The city’s measure is intended to challenge a certified petition from Costa Mesa First, a political action committee, that would place approval of certain new developments directly in the hands of voters instead of just the City Council.
If both the city’s and Costa Mesa First’s measures pass, the one with the most votes would prevail.
Council members will also consider a Fairview Park initiative that challenges one sponsored by the activist Fairview Park Preservation Alliance.
The alliance’s law, which has not yet been officially placed on the November ballot, would require voter approval to build new permanent structures in the park or add lighting, among other changes.
Based on a suggestion by Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer made during the council’s June 21 meeting, the city is considering a far-narrower competiting measure to only require voter approval for future development of athletic fields in the park.
During that meeting, the council asked the city attorney’s office to examine whether the alliance’s law the city’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act as it relates to Fairview Park.
While the language of the initiative “does not appear to prohibit the city from complying with its legal obligations under the ADA,” according to a city staff report, it would force the public to vote on a number of projects already proposed under the existing Fairview Park Master Plan.
A plaintiff, the staff report says, could argue that the elimination of projects authorized under the master plan, many of which would be ADA compliant, may be discriminatory against the disabled.
Rounding out Tuesday’s trifecta is a proposed city-sponsored measure on medical marijuana, which would compete against two resident measures already on the ballot.
Costa Mesa’s proposal would require medical marijuana businesses to obtain permits from the city and would only allow them to open in the manufacturing zone north of South Coast Drive and west of Harbor Boulevard.
Over-the-counter medical marijuana dispensaries would remain banned.
The two resident-sponsored measures already on November’s ballot would allow a small number of dispensaries — either four or eight — to operate in Costa Mesa.
Tuesday’s council meeting begins at 5:45 p.m. in City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.
