Latest news with #MeasureK
Los Angeles Times
31-07-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Costa Mesa invites residents to rezoning open house, but it's mostly the usual suspects
Attempting to draft a template for creating 'neighborhoods where we all belong,' Costa Mesa officials Wednesday kicked off a year-long visioning process for the citywide rezoning of major commercial and industrial corridors to allow for more high-density housing. An open house at the Norma Hertzog Community Center invited residents and city stakeholders to participate in the massive planning overhaul required for Costa Mesa to comply with a state mandate that it zone for an additional 11,760 residential units by 2029. Because many of the city's residential parcels are built out, accommodating that growth will require lots throughout the city to be rezoned for housing. Measure K, an initiative narrowly passed by voters in 2022, allows that to be done without triggering a popular vote. Although the measure passed more than two years ago, the city is just now beginning to drill down into the details of what development standards might be within those Measure K corridors, primarily along the city's Harbor and Newport boulevards and north of the 405 Freeway. 'Housing is one of the, if not the most important things in our lives. So, I'm glad you are all interested in housing and the future of housing here in Costa Mesa,' said Carrie Tai, the city's director of economic and development services, welcoming the crowd. After a brief introduction to the rezoning process and timeline (officials estimate they will be refining the zoning code updates by summer or fall of 2026) attendees were encouraged to circulate among and interact with a series of informational displays. The event drew about 70 participants, including many city planning staff and consultants with communications firm Kearns & West and planning firm Dudek. A dozen or more were current and former planning commissioners and council members, leaving just a handful of residents in the crowd, most of them not strangers to city meetings. Stations asked participants, in English and Spanish, to indicate what type of housing scenarios they've lived in, while another asked them to place stickers on their three top priorities for creating a good neighborhood, with options ranging from diverse housing types and outdoor space to mobility and having access to amenities. The format did not impress Costa Mesa resident Jay Humphrey, a senior and regular city council and planning commission meeting attendee who said a town hall forum with questions from and discussion among citizens would have been more informative. 'With this, I only know what I know — I don't know what he knows or she knows,' he said. ''The more you can get the community to be connected to the project, the more they participate, and the more they participate, the better we have it.' Cynthia McDonald, a local activist who campaigned against Measure K for precluding major rezoning efforts from a vote, agreed the city's consultant-driven process cuts out residents who may have professional backgrounds in legal or planning matters. She said she'd like to see a citizen's advisory committee contribute to the rezoning effort. City officials, however, contend they will seek to involve the public in a series of multiple meetings and discussions scheduled to take place throughout the community before the zoning code update is brought before the Costa Mesa Planning Commission and City Council for final approval. An Aug. 21 workshop at Costa Mesa City Hall, from 6 to 8 p.m. will focus on Harbor and Newport boulevards, and residents may attend an informational walking tour of the city's westside on Aug. 23, convening at the city's Senior Center at 10 a.m. A third meeting on Sept. 10 will tackle zoning issues in the city's north end, including SoBECA. One of Wednesday's interactive exhibits prompted visitors to write Post-it notes envisioning their ideal community. Suggestions in Spanish and English included more accessible bus stops, trees and mixed use developments as well as better walkability and bikeability. Those are all priorities for resident Marc Vukcevich, who campaigned for Measure K and has eagerly awaited the rezoning it allowed. 'The biggest thing for me is an abundance of housing with walkable amenities. That is, to me, what makes an amazing community,' he said. 'This is a mandate the state has on the city, and it has to be done within some reasonable timeline. It's the law, at the end of the day.' The meeting's end found Costa Mesa resident Andrew Kenny scrawling down his thoughts on a comment card. The 29-year-old, a college graduate attending Coastline College to study data science, came with girlfriend Christina Chyi, 26. The couple live in the city's South Pointe Apartments on Baker Street and believe something must be done to make housing more affordable for all. 'So many people have become accustomed to the idea that costs are just going up — it doesn't have to be that way,' said Kenny. 'With rezoning, more aggressive development and higher density development, a lot of those things could be alleviated.' Chyi, who worked in Newport Beach, said 'Costa Mesa was the closest place I could live that was 'more affordable,'' adding her own air quotes, given the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment hovers at $2,400 per month. 'We're just people who live in an apartment and figure it would be nice if apartments didn't have to be so expensive,' she said.
Los Angeles Times
22-07-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Costa Mesa Council approves 40-unit Victoria Place, after planning commission denial
Perhaps not willing to let perfect be the enemy of the good, the Costa Mesa City Council last week approved plans for Victoria Place, a 40-unit complex near Newport Boulevard and Victoria Street previously rejected by the city's planning commission. During its earlier consideration of the condominium complex — which would be included in a rare and never-initiated residential overlay district allowing commercial properties to be used for housing — the planning commission denied the proposal in a 5-2 vote during a June 9 meeting. Commissioners contended the 1.77-acre parcel qualifies for rezoning under the voter-backed Measure K initiative and, as such, could potentially be more thoroughly developed to meet Costa Mesa's housing needs than what they regarded as the archaic mish-mash of alternative approaches and deviations placed before them. There's just one hitch. The citywide rezoning of certain commercial corridors under Measure K, passed in 2022, hasn't happened and is only now in the visioning stages. So while a transformation of the partially vacant site, currently home to a lighting store and boat storage facilities, into needed housing might be a welcome one, ideas on how to optimize that shift differ. Furthermore, the City Council initially reviewed the plan in a screening nearly one year ago, providing feedback on open space, landscaping and pedestrian safety, suggestions that were incorporated into an amended version of the plan. 'You were responsive to what we said in August,' Mayor John Stephens told applicant WMC Partners' Tony Weeda ahead of the July 15 vote. 'And it wouldn't be fair play, in my opinion, to lay some other objectives on you that we wouldn't express in August.' The approval of Victoria Place — named after the small side street it fronts — allows for 18 duplexes and four detached residences, each comprising roughly 2,700 square feet in three stories with a ground-floor work space, two-car garage, balcony and rooftop deck standing 39 feet, 6 inches in height. Although they are ownership dwellings, nothing would prevent an owner from renting out a unit. Fitting those units on the smallish lot requires setback reductions, a shrinking of space in between buildings and in garage width and a reduction in parking spaces, from the 150 required to just 103. Those entitlements and others will be codified in a site-specific master plan under the city's residential incentive overlay district, created in 2016 but never applied until now. Don Lamm — a consultant for WMC who also served as Costa Mesa's deputy city manager and developmental services director from 1986 to 2009 — told the council what planning commissioners saw as too-abundant 'deviations' might be instead viewed as viable alternatives for breathing life into an underutilized area. 'This is simply a very nice [40-unit] condominium project on a property that really needs to be recycled or redeveloped,' Lamm said. 'In reality, these deviations are good because it's the incentive the applicant needs to build this project to provide these new housing units.' Two people who spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting criticized the project as an inefficient use of the land and for the potential increased vehicle traffic it could present for residents. 'There's no clear expectation, either for the public or developer, no ideal to conform to that reflects what the city and public would like to see in the future,' said Costa Mesa resident and City Hall critic Cynthia McDonald. 'The planning commission got it right — this needs to be rethought.' Council members, however, favored the project, making minor modifications so that a landscaped peninsula out front, to remain under the city's purview, would be protected from vehicle traffic and steps would be taken to add architectural elements to the ends of the units fronting Victoria Place. Stephens said the development will transform a site that is currently blighted. 'It's exactly on point with language we had in Measure K, which we all fought so hard to get passed to change our kind-of outdated land use into housing,' he said. 'Could it be better? I don't know. [But] it's going to be a huge improvement when we drive by.'
Los Angeles Times
12-06-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Commission's denial of home ownership project reveals cracks in Costa Mesa's zoning
In Costa Mesa, where 60% of the populace are renters and home prices make purchases prohibitive, city leaders have repeatedly expressed a desire to see more home ownership projects. But at what cost? That issue came to a head this week as the city's planning commission considered a proposal for Victoria Place, a 40-unit condominium complex at 220 Victoria St., a 1.77-acre commercial lot situated just west of Newport Boulevard. A hearing Monday followed an August 2024 screening by the City Council, during which officials pressed for more common areas, open space and better landscaping but had no qualms about the project's density or location. Put forth by Newport Beach-based WMC, LLC., the proposal features 18 duplexes and four detached residences, each comprising roughly 2,700 square feet in three stories with a ground-floor workspace, two-car garage, balcony and rooftop deck at a maximum height of 39 feet, 6 inches. The property lies close enough to Newport Boulevard to qualify for rezoning under Measure K, a 2022 voter-backed initiative that makes allowances for high-density residences near certain commercial and industrial corridors. Because the requisite rezoning has not been completed, the developers of Victoria Place, with help from city planners, have had to get creative. The project was pitched to commissioners for inclusion in a residential incentive overlay district created in 2016 to allow for the redevelopment of 14 identified commercial properties along Newport and Harbor boulevards for high-density residential uses. None of the property owners took advantage of the designation and, two years later, city leaders reduced eligibility to just four sites. Victoria Place seeks designation as a fifth parcel and, if built, would be the first site developed under the overlay's more permissive building standards. However, applicants came to Monday's hearing asking for even more concessions than the overlay allows, namely a reduction in side and rear setbacks, garages and on-site parking stalls narrower by 6 inches, less off-street parking and a reduction in required common open space. 'We feel that Costa Mesa's need for this type of housing is pretty clear. And [this] offers a thoughtful and well-designed response to that need,' Tony Weeda, managing partner of WMC, LLC. told commissioners. He explained architects incorporated a barbecue and play area into the site plans, along with a flexible-use space that can be used for events and as a fire lane. The gated complex would allow children to play safely on the property. Architect Richard Finkel said the city encouraged the applicants to fit as much housing as the overlay allowed. Commissioners, however, were not convinced the multiplicity of concessions were appropriate for the space and expressed concerns about the traffic vehicles and pedestrians would face so close to Newport Boulevard. They further lamented the city's delay in rezoning Measure K properties. 'We still don't have a cohesive plan for what we expect from our Measure K sites,' said Commissioner David Martinez. 'Now, we get stuck in this weird situation where we're applying something for the very first time and trying to figure out what any of it means — it just sucks.' Commissioner Rob Dickson said it would be unfair to hold an applicant hostage because the city couldn't figure out how to zone a project, and pointed out the council already ostensibly approved the concept last August. 'If this was the first impression of the project before us, I would be 100% absolutely not; it's just too outside the scope,' he said. 'However, this has been going on for a while, and it seems to be something the council asked for.' Commissioners opposed recommending the project in a 5-2 vote, with Dickson and Commissioner Angely Andrade Vallarta opposed. It will move on to the City Council for its consideration.
CBS News
13-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
San Francisco officials celebrate opening of Sunset Dunes as controversy remains
On Saturday, San Francisco officials celebrated the opening of the newest city park on what used to be the Great Highway next to Ocean Beach. However, the controversy surrounding it remains as the city hurries to establish the park as quickly as possible. In November, voters approved Measure K, closing the Great Highway to traffic, but at the time there was no money or even a real plan for the park they wanted to replace it. Now, just five months later, they proclaimed it to be "opening day." "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Sunset Dunes," announced Rec and Park General Manager, Phil Ginsburg. That's the new name of the park-- Sunset Dunes --chosen from suggestions sent in by the public. But that's not the only input the public had in turning what was, for about a century, a major vehicle corridor, into a place to walk and ride bicycles. "That's what I voted for," said Measure K supporter Lidia Eng. "I voted for a place that can be open. Because we just need more space for the kids to just roam around, play around, stuff like that." "No matter how you voted at the ballot five months ago, come on out and enjoy the park," said Ginsburg. "You know, the election happened. Now it's a park. And we want this park to work for this community." But it doesn't work for many living in the area. As a compromise, the highway had been closed on weekends for recreation since the pandemic. But neighbors complained that shutting down the road completely would make getting to their homes more difficult and divert weekday commute traffic onto their streets. Stephen Gorski, whose home overlooks the Great Highway, has been a vocal critic of the plan to close the road permanently. "The Park people basically put out a statement saying, 'I know everybody's had their differences about this, but now you have to come together and celebrate this with us.' I'm not in the mood to celebrate this," he said. There is still a lot of anger over the city-wide vote and, during Saturday's ceremony, a small car caravan circled the block promoting a recall attempt against the area's supervisor, Joel Engardio, who came out in support of Measure K. But Sasha Pixlee, who lives just a few blocks away, disagreed with the protestors in the caravan. "They complain that traffic's a problem and what are they doing?" he said. "I mean, I think it's just very selfish. Adding a little time to your commute versus this (park)? It seems a very easy tradeoff." But despite Saturday's large, festive turnout, the neighbors aren't giving up. They've filed a lawsuit over the way Measure K was put on the ballot and a court hearing is scheduled for June 3. Which may be why "opening day" was rushed into place by the city even though Sunset Dunes still has no funding and, except for one new piece of art, plans for the park are simply concepts. "And that's what's so silly," said Gorski. "They'll have a decision in less than two months. If the judge says Prop K was illegal, then it has to be reverted to the compromise. I think they're trying to think we're stupid, that they're going to say, 'Well, we spent all this money and put art and did everything' No!" But despite the objections, the voters have spoken. And as the city scrambles to create a park as quickly as possible, a judge will have to decide whether putting a halt to it is worth overturning an election.
CBS News
03-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Placemate's program helps Truckee workers find affordable housing
TRUCKEE — Finding affordable housing in the Tahoe region has become nearly impossible for those who work there. With the rising costs of homes in places like Truckee, local workers are being priced out. But new programs are helping to change that. Richard Baker has lived in Truckee for the last eight years, but for the past year, it's the Hopkins Village community that he has called home. "Everyone in this neighborhood works here — all age groups, a lot of children, many, many dogs," Baker said with a laugh. He and his wife rented before moving there. Now, they're homeowners, which is something that wouldn't have been possible without a program that reserves these homes for people who live and work in Truckee. "The housing stock has reduced for local residents because it is unaffordable," said Heidi Hill Drum, the executive director of the Tahoe Prosperity Center. Drum said that more and more homes are being bought up by people who only visit a few times a year. That means fewer homes for locals and higher prices. "When a community doesn't have local residents living in it full time, the fabric of the community is missing," Drum said. It's her goal to stitch it back together, advocating for projects like Hopkins Village. "The Tahoe Prosperity Center's role is to present data and information to get them to make the right policy choices that encourage more local housing for residents," Drum said. Isaac Landman shares the same mission. He's the operation manager for Placemate, a housing marketplace contracted by the town of Truckee that connects vacation homeowners with local workers seeking long-term rentals. As a Truckee resident himself, Landman understands the importance of affordable housing. "I think housing is key to keeping a community whole," he said. Placemate's Lease to Locals program helps bridge the gap by giving property owners financial incentives to rent to local workers long-term, up to 12 months. The funding comes from the Town of Truckee's general fund and Measure K. "Getting to work on our housing in this area is kind of like work to maintain the community that I am also a part of and that's really special to me," Landman said. For people like Baker, it's projects like these that make owning a home in the Sierra a reality. "It's very quiet. It's a beautiful neighborhood," Baker said.
