Group plans second affordable housing rally

For a second time this month, activists with the Costa Mesa Affordable Housing Coalition are staging a rally to support new affordable housing for displaced motel residents.

The group is hosting a demonstration at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in front of City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.

The protest follows another held in front of the Costa Mesa Motor Inn last week, which brought about 100 attendees who decried the potential loss of the Harbor Boulevard motel as de-facto affordable housing.

The motel’s owner is seeking the City Council’s permission to demolish the 1970s-era building and replace it with 224 high-end apartments. Should the council approve the project, the motel, which contains an estimated 50 long-term tenants, is tentatively scheduled to close Aug. 1.

Coalition member Kathy Esfahani said Thursday’s event will include a screening of “Motel Stories,” which the coalition produced, at Vanguard University next to City Hall.

The film was made by local college students. It features interviews from Costa Mesa Motor Inn residents “revealing why they live at the motel and what they fear will happen to them when the motel is demolished to make room for luxury apartments none of them can afford,” according to the coalition’s Facebook page.

—Bradley Zint

Twitter: @bradleyzint