Costa Mesa to consider changing small-lot ordinance and other development standards
Costa Mesaâs small-lot ordinance and urban plans and overlay districts are set to go back under the microscope following a lengthy joint meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission on Tuesday night.
In front of a standing-room-only crowd in the administration building at the OC Fair & Event Center, council members and commissioners spent more than three hours discussing the issues and hearing feedback from the audience.
Because Tuesdayâs meeting was a study session, neither the council nor the commission took any votes on the items. As the meeting wound on, though, it became clear that most members believe some tweaks â if not wholesale changes â are needed.
âI think itâs safe to say that some changes are coming,â Councilman Allan Mansoor said. âThe question is, what changes?â
Some residents lobbied for moratoriums temporarily halting projects processed under the small-lot ordinance â which eases standards for proposed developments of 15 or fewer detached homes in areas zoned for multifamily units â and the urban plans and overlay districts, which outline development standards in certain portions of the Westside and the Sobeca district around The Lab and The Camp shopping centers on Bristol Street.
âHit the pause button while we rethink the ordinances and whatâs really appropriate for our city,â resident Robin Leffler said.
Other residents urged outright repeal, waving small stop signs with âNo overlaysâ and âNo SLOâ written on them.
The council in July discussed the possibility of a small-lot moratorium but decided to hold off.
Supporters of the ordinance and the overlays said they create flexibility to develop needed housing.
Patty Conover with the Orange County Business Council said the county âis in a housing crisisâ and that tens of thousands of new units are needed just to meet the demand of existing residents.
Addressing that, she told the council and commission, will take âa lot of courage on your part to make sure that we are making the right decisions and protecting policies and procedures that help plan for my generation and the generations after me who cannot currently afford housing.â
Throughout the meeting, residents complained that projects built under the small-lot ordinance and in the overlay areas have worsened traffic and parking problems, deprived neighborhoods of open space and changed the look and character of local communities.
They pointed to the November passage of Measure Y â a local growth-control initiative requiring voter approval for building projects that meet certain criteria â as evidence that residents feel burdened by overdevelopment.
âWith Measure Y, people in Costa Mesa clearly spoke that theyâre concerned about traffic, theyâre concerned about parking, theyâre tired of perhaps the building thatâs being done not being able to be supported by the infrastructure,â resident Anna Vrska said.
Generally, council members and commissioners seemed more interested in finding ways to adjust and improve the small-lot ordinance and overlays rather than scrapping them.
With the small-lot ordinance, actions such as increasing the amount of required open space, reexamining parking standards and adjusting setbacks could address some concerns, they said.
Several officials said theyâd like another look at the residential incentive overlays that allow development at densities of up to 40 housing units per acre at certain commercial properties along Harbor and Newport boulevards.
The goal of those overlays was to encourage redevelopment of certain properties â namely motels that some have claimed are hotbeds of criminal activity and drug use.
Some officials, though, expressed concern with the idea of building dense housing next to already congested thoroughfares.
Planning Commission Vice Chairman Byron de Arakal said he doesnât think it makes sense to dot Harbor and Newport with overlays âbefore we have a particular vision of what we want those corridors to be.â
Mayor Katrina Foley said sheâd like the city to look at developing neighborhood plans that take into account the opportunities and challenges in specific areas.
âCosta Mesa is not a one-size-fits-all community,â she said. âEvery neighborhood â Eastside, Westside, north and south â theyâre all very different and they require a different approach with regard to how we plan for zoning and housing.â
Twitter @LukeMMoney
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.