SOUTH COAST METRO WANTS SOME CHANGES--OR, HOW TO MAKE ROCK STEW
At tonight's no-Planning Commission meeting (4/14/08), some folks from South Coast Metro will be asking for some changes to earlier approved plans for the area. Seems some of the things they agreed to in the past are now more costly so they want them removed from the plans or modified. LINK
This is the sort of thing we often see in Costa Mesa. Developers first come in to get their plans approved and, after much discussion and public input with various aspects of the plans being negotiated and agreed to, get plans approved that have some aspects that the no-Planning Commission, the no-City Council and the public think might be good for the city and mitigate some of the impacts of the development.
Then, months later, when the no-Planners, the no-Councilmembers and especially the public have forgotten all the details, the developers come back in after atomizing the original deal into small parts and ask that the plans be opened up, but only for "little" changes here and there, and only for the ones the developers want. The no-Planning Commission and the no-City Council then usually approve the changes in a rubber stamp fashion.
In other words, the original deals are often picked apart and changed so the final deal doesn't look much like the original deal at all. And, this is usually done a little at a time so that citizens, who might have been engaged when the plans were first presented, are now no longer engaged, and, in many cases, aren't even aware that what they thought was agreed to has now changed.
What an enlightened Planning Commission and City Council might do in such cases is say, "If the plans are opened up for one change, then they're opened up for all changes." Then, the Planning Commission, the City Council and interested citizens can make changes that will benefit the city and not just the developers. Don't count on this happening though.
This whole process reminds us a little of the old story about the guy who comes to a village and, to the amazement of the villagers, promises to make a delicious stew out of nothing but a big rock and water.
First, the guy puts the rock in a big pot of water and boils it for a time. Then, he tastes the rock stew and says it needs a little something--maybe some salt-- to improve the flavor. The villagers then bring him salt, which he throws in the pot. After a while, he tastes it again. Hmmmm. Needs potatoes for flavor. Those are brought by the none-too bright villagers. Hmmmm. Needs something to get that rock just right, how about some beef? Gee, the rock is still not right. How about some carrots for flavoring? They're then put in. And, so it goes. Then, after many more "flavorings" are thrown in, the villagers get to taste the rock stew and think the guy is a miracle worker--he made a delicious stew out of nothing but a rock and water!
ROTTING MIDDLE CLASS NEIGHBORHOODS
But, what really galls us is the fact that developers are being allowed to add hundreds and hundreds of high-end dwelling units (condos and apartments) in the South Coast Metro area without having to put in any low income housing there or elsewhere in the city.
What this does is increase the population of Costa Mesa which also increases the state requirement for low income housing. So, who will have to pay for more low income housing if the developers don't? The taxpayers. And, where will it go? Not in South Coast Metro.
And, because there is no new and modern low income housing going into the South Coast Metro area to replace older functionally obsolete slums in other parts of the city, Costa Mesa won't be able to remove existing old style low income housing on the Westside, in Mesa North and in Mesa del Mar without further reducing the number of low income units that the City is required to have by the state.
In other words, the no-Planning Commission and the no-City Council are creating a gold coast of rich folks in South Coast Metro--almost a separate city within Costa Mesa--while letting our middle class neighborhoods rot from within.
And, some on the no-Planning Commission and the no-City Council then brag that this shows they are for the little guy, by gum, and if you own a piece of property you can do what you want with it. Of course, that's the same specious argument they use for letting 60 acres of industrial properties sit on our Westside Bluffs.
What we're seeing from some on the no-Planning Commission and some on the no-City Council is a childish and incorrect mishmash view of property rights, libertarian philosophy and reality that is helping keep Costa Mesa from improving.
Of course, many dumb villagers in Costa Mesa actually believe this local version of the rock stew fable and don't realize that Costa Mesa is never going to improve until we have a strong City Council that starts looking out for the middle class citizens in this city and starts doing the necessary things that a municipal government does to improve a city. And, that means the City Council has to do more than fill potholes and plant flowers in front of slum buildings.
Don't get us wrong. We're all for proper developments in South Coast Metro, but we believe there has to be more done to help some of our older neighborhoods.
The way cities usually do things is to have new developments contribute to the overall health of a city--and not just in tax revenues. Want an example of an enlightened city? Look at Newport Beach and what they ask in return for new developments.
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GRAFFITI IN MESA DEL MAR
At 7:30 this morning (4/14/08), we observed a city worker, with a paint brush and green paint, painting over about thirty linear feet of white graffiti gang slogans with letters about a foot tall on the green fabric on the fence around the closed down and long time eyesore shopping center in Katrina Foley's neighborhood of Mesa del Mar.
So, instead of seeing white graffiti on the fence, residents can now see green graffiti. That's because the city worker seemed to simply be tracing and covering over the white letters with green paint that does not match the fence.
No doubt, Foley will now step up to help improve her neighborhood and Costa Mesa by starting another canned food drive for people in...Zimbabwe or Tibet or whatever will get her name in the paper.
Someone please tell Foley that she's on the City Council in Costa Mesa and that she's not been elected to the United Nations.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
