EDITORIAL:The right call, but a caveat

With disagreement the norm for the current Costa Mesa City Council, we are happy to applaud the unanimity and the decision to go forward with five high-rise residential and commercial units in the South Coast Metro area.

It would be hard to find a more upscale and successful few blocks of property than the South Coast Metro area, and we are glad to see the council is in lock step on this plan.

Largely thanks to the vision of Henry Segerstrom and his family, the area boasts one of the most successful shopping centers in the nation, two world-class performing arts venues, a cutting edge repertory theater, fine dining, elegant lodging and public art.

Adding the high-rise venues, which will include more than 200,000 square feet of commercial space and 1,200 residential units, and the future location of the Orange County Museum of Art, will help propel and elevate this area into a true downtown.

Our only caution is for the council and city officials to ensure that the existing infrastructure will handle this new load on the system.

But really, the main hiccup in the development came as the council debated whether to force developers to pay fees to ensure that affordable housing units are built. Ultimately, the majority voted, 3-2, with Councilwomen Linda Dixon and Katrina Foley dissenting, to not hit the developers with the fees.

It is hard to deny that the cost of housing in Costa Mesa and Orange County is prohibitive. And more and more families are being priced out of the market.

Whether developers should foot the bill for that price tag is certainly a fair debate, but we also wonder if the council should take a more proactive stand than simply leaving it to market forces to decide.

Elected officials everywhere should seek more creative ways to meet the affordable housing challenge, especially as it affects employees with skills critical to the local government and economy.

In the end though, we are confident that approval of these five projects will only prove to take Costa Mesa, and specifically the South Coast Metro area, to new heights, figuratively and literally.