Developer wants homes to replace tattoo, massage and car rental businesses near Harbor Boulevard
A Newport Beach developer hoping to build 28 homes in place of a small commercial center off Harbor Boulevard is expected to present plans to the Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday.
Sheldon Development LLC is seeking an amendment to the city’s general plan that would permit the single-family homes at 440 Fair Drive, a 1.66-acre site.
The property contains a 1960s-era commercial building labeled a wellness center. Tenants include a car rental business, a tattoo parlor, several message parlors and Hotties Pizza.
The developer’s plan would necessitate a change in designation of the land from “neighborhood commercial” to “high-density residential.”
The housing proposal calls for two floor plans, with either two or three bedrooms. The houses would range in size from 1,786 to 1,811 square feet, and all would have rooftop decks.
City staff noted that the site plan meets parking requirements but contains no open spaces.
Sheldon Development is owned by Steve Sheldon, an attorney and elected director of the Orange County Water District since 2005. He represents Division 5, which is made up of portions of Irvine and Newport Beach.
The 440 Fair Drive property has in recent years caught the attention of law enforcement and city officials.
A raid in March 2011 targeted seven massage parlors at the property for allegedly being prostitution fronts.
Earlier this year, the Garden Grove-based nonprofit International Crusade for the Penny sought to set up a 70-foot broadcasting antenna within 440 Fair Drive’s parking lot, in close proximity to College Park homes. The group, which aids the homeless and people with disabilities, had sought to establish a 24-hour radio station at the commercial center.
In May, city planning commissioners upheld an earlier denial of the equipment.
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Other items
The council is scheduled to take a procedural second vote on instituting new fees for developers of apartments.
On Aug. 4, the council approved a one-time fee maxing out at $5,000 per unit for apartment complexes containing more than 50 units. The money would be applied to expanding, improving or acquiring new land for city parks.
Also on the agenda, Costa Mesa activists Carrie Renfro and Ann Parker are requesting refunds related to their respective appeals of two recent city decisions.
Renfro wants to retrieve the $1,220 she paid to successfully appeal an Eastside church’s request to host a farmers market.
Parker fought against a parking exemption sought by a sober-living operator working out of a West 19th Street office building. She paid $690. The operator, Solid Landings Behavioral Health, eventually lost its attempt to have fewer parking spaces than required at 657 W. 19th St., where it wanted to host group counseling sessions.
