MISSION POSSIBLE: MAKE COSTA MESA THE NICE COASTAL COMMUNITY IT SHOULD BE
Here are a few of the things that we've written about before and which we hope the City Council, and where appropriate, the Planning Commission, the Parks and Recreation Commission, and various committees will bring to the fore this year and at least start the public discussion on them.
1. 55 FREEWAY: Underground the 55 to about 15th Street to bleed off beach traffic. Then, cap over the trench and turn the topside into a pedestrian friendly true downtown with Triangle Square as the hub of a commercial wheel whose spokes would be West 19th Street, Harbor Blvd. Newport Blvd and a few other streets in the area.
2. JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT: Help find a location to replace John Wayne Airport. Our opinion is that the northern part of Camp Pendleton would do the trick. The City should begin talking to our Congressmen and others about this.
3. OCEAN: Bring the ocean to Costa Mesa by developing a marina and/or beach in the area below the Westside bluffs to make Costa Mesa into a true coastal community. The City should begin talking to Newporters and County officials about the benefits to them in this.
4. POLLUTION/BLUFFS: Reduce pollution from the Westside bluffs and start developing a proper balance between the amount of industrial zoning and single family residential zoning in the city by encouraging home building on some of the industrial land on the bluffs. Costa Mesa presently has a whopping 14% of its land zoned for industrial uses. This is out of whack. It should be reduced to around 7%. (Newport only has 2% of its land zoned industrial)
5. SLUMS: Thin out the barracks style apartment buildings. Many of these are now obsolete and are serving as breeding grounds for crime and are creating health and safety problems because many of the individual apartments (and the apartment garages) are housing far too many people. At the present time, Costa Mesa is upside down as far as our homeowner vs. renters ratio. Our ratio is 60% renters and 40% homeowners. It should be just about the opposite.
Chicago finally woke up to the fact that as long as you have a habitat for criminals, you'll have criminals. That city tore down its massive Cabrini-Green complex that had once been touted as the modern solution for decrepit inner city housing.
In fact, Cabrini-Green just made matters worse by concentrating criminals in an area that then became a safe harbor for criminals and an area from which they could sally forth to victimize people in other areas. We have similar habitats and safe harbors for criminals in Costa Mesa.
6. SPORTS FIELDS: Bring in more neighborhood sports fields by buying up properties in neighborhoods with a high demand for such sports fields. No eminent domain, please. The City should put on its developer hat and just buy the properties at fair market value as would any property developer.
7. NEWPORT BEACH: Develop a better working relationship with our true sister city so that both cities can cooperate for the mutual benefit of their citizens. Both cities need to work together on airport, marina and similar issues and both cities benefit if more playing fields can be brought on line.
8. NON-PROFITS: Reform the way tax money is doled out to non-profits so that any hint of racial or ethnic discrimination is removed.
That's just for starters. We cannot afford to have a caretaker government in Costa Mesa at this time.
We need bold leadership and big visions to go along with the fixing of potholes. That's the only way we're going to overcome two decades of do-nothing governments that have failed to do the things necessary to keep Costa Mesa the great place it should and can be.
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