Costa Mesa rejects state’s plan for Fairview Center site, noting impacts on future developments
When a large-scale development is being proposed for a particular area, the public typically has a time window in which to express concerns about potential impacts the project might have on surrounding homes, businesses and even local wildlife.
Neighbors or city officials may pen letters or attend meetings where their comments are recorded for consideration to alter the work or help determine mitigation efforts going forward.
But what happens if the homes and businesses that might be affected by that development don’t yet exist?
That’s the predicament Costa Mesa officials face as California’s Office of Emergency Services finalizes plans for a 15-acre regional emergency operations center on the grounds of Fairview Developmental Center at 2501 Harbor Blvd.
Having served for decades as a state hospital for individuals with developmental disabilities, the 114-acre state-owned property is being decommissioned and eyed for new uses, namely housing.
City officials have been working with the state Department of Housing and Community Development to develop the acreage into a housing opportunity site that could sustain up to 2,300 residential units in a “walkable residential village” with affordable units for low-income families.
State officials gave Costa Mesa $3.5 million to develop a Fairview Developmental Center Specific Plan Area to codify the zone changes and entitlements necessary for accommodating wide-scale residential use of the property.
In its current configuration, the campus seems a fitting place for a regional emergency operations center that would serve 11 counties and 22.9 million residents with a 35,000-square-foot office, 20,000-square-foot warehouse, helicopter pad and 120-foot communications tower.
California’s Office of Emergency Services wants to use 15 acres of the state-owned Fairview Developmental Center to more quickly respond to regional disasters. The public has until Monday to comment on possible impacts.
But if the city’s plans to use the space for housing bears fruit, such a facility would hardly be compatible. Officials expressed such sentiment in a formal response to an environmental impact report drafted by the state, ahead of an Oct. 20 public comment deadline.
“The current project conflicts with the city’s and state’s mutual goals to accommodate housing opportunities at this site and places undue constraints on future planning and [neighborhood] development efforts,” the city’s 19-page response letter reads.
“The DEIR does not discuss how the proposed EOC, its proposed helipad and communication tower are compatible with the residential development that is planned for the site.”
City officials also maintain the presence of such a center would not only reduce the acreage available for housing but potentially devalue the property, making it “less economically feasible and less marketable for sale or lease to a residential community development firm in the future.”
Other concerns addressed in the response include noise and traffic impacts, as well a failure to provide adequate notice to the public about the scope, timing and specifications of the project and its construction, which would take 37 months to complete.
During a Sept. 28 meeting on the state-owned site, consultants for the state attempted to describe the proposal to an auditorium of about 85 largely displeased members of the public. City staff said the presentation was uninformative, and participants had a hard time seeing materials and getting their questions answered.
The City Council Tuesday gave a final look at the response letter, presented and signed off on by Jennifer Le, director of economic and development services, effectively hitting send on the document in a 7-0 vote.
The City Council will discuss Tuesday whether the now-defunct state hospital grounds could accommodate up to 2,300 residential units. The discussion is the first step in a planning process toward which the state has committed $3.5 million.
As the meeting had already passed midnight, panelists offered few words on the project. But a handful of residents, undaunted by the late hour, offered words against the regional facility. Mary Spadoni suggested the city loop in officials from higher offices.
“Where are our representatives from the state and county? Where’s Sen. Dave Min, where’s Cottie [Petrie-Norris], where’s Supervisor [Katrina] Foley?” she asked. “This is an important issue — where are these people?”
Le said the city would move forward with plans to redevelop at least the remainder of the site into housing.
“We do intend to begin our public visioning meetings for that master planning effort this fall,” she told the council.
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