FORM SHOULD FOLLOW FUNCTION AND COMMON SENSE SHOULD RULE
At last night's Silly Council meeting, residents of Babb Street wanted the Council to implement a residents only parking restriction on Babb Street. After a lot of mumbling, as further detailed below, the Council put off a decision to a future meeting.
Here's the LINK to the Silly Council agenda with an aerial photo of the area which will make what follows below clear.
The problem
There are twelve homes on the west side of Babb Street between Baker Street and Paularino Ave. and five on the east side of the street. These homes are standard Mesa North four or five bedroom single family homes.
Most of the east side of Babb Street is taken up by a condominium development named Summerset Citihomes or Somerset Citihomes or Sommerset Citihomes(all three names appear in different documents and two of them appear in the City Council agenda report). (Hereafter, "Summerset.")
Summerset is an inward facing walled community with 111 condominium residences with 279 parking spaces total. None of these residences have Babb Street addresses.
When Summerset was built in 1979, the developer supplied 279 parking spaces; one space more than required by city codes at that time. If the project were to be built today, it would require 357 parking spaces. And, many believe that even with the additional 78 parking spaces under today's codes, this would be too few spaces for today's conditions.
Because of the lack of parking, many Summerset residents and guests take up all the parking spaces on the west side of Babb Street in front of the single family homes, causing a major headache for the single family home owners.
The Silly Council mumbles and mumbles and mumbles
To try to solve the problem without putting in resident only parking restrictions on Babb Street, the Silly Council mumbled endlessly about having some guest parking spaces in Summerset made into resident parking spaces or into either/or parking spaces.
This was/is a waste of time. The problem is that people today have more cars than they used to have and the solution is to put in more parking spaces. Sometimes you just need a bigger bag.
The solution to the problem
If the Councilmembers had actually taken the time to go out and view the area, they might have understood what the CM PRESS suggested during public comments on this issue instead of looking at us with ten blank eyes all saying "Huh?"
Summerset has a large green area and a curved sidewalk on the west side of the project outside the walls that could be turned into nicely landscaped parking in such a way that the parking would be almost invisible if a low, heavily landscaped berm were built along Babb Street. Alternatively, there are some green areas within the walls of the project that could also be reconfigured for parking.
It looks to us as though parking for a hundred of more cars could be put in with the above suggestions while still allowing plenty of greenery if designed correctly.
Take a look at the aerial photo of the project in the link above or take a drive over there and you'll see what we mean.
At last night's Silly Council meeting, residents of Babb Street wanted the Council to implement a residents only parking restriction on Babb Street. After a lot of mumbling, as further detailed below, the Council put off a decision to a future meeting.
Here's the LINK to the Silly Council agenda with an aerial photo of the area which will make what follows below clear.
The problem
There are twelve homes on the west side of Babb Street between Baker Street and Paularino Ave. and five on the east side of the street. These homes are standard Mesa North four or five bedroom single family homes.
Most of the east side of Babb Street is taken up by a condominium development named Summerset Citihomes or Somerset Citihomes or Sommerset Citihomes(all three names appear in different documents and two of them appear in the City Council agenda report). (Hereafter, "Summerset.")
Summerset is an inward facing walled community with 111 condominium residences with 279 parking spaces total. None of these residences have Babb Street addresses.
When Summerset was built in 1979, the developer supplied 279 parking spaces; one space more than required by city codes at that time. If the project were to be built today, it would require 357 parking spaces. And, many believe that even with the additional 78 parking spaces under today's codes, this would be too few spaces for today's conditions.
Because of the lack of parking, many Summerset residents and guests take up all the parking spaces on the west side of Babb Street in front of the single family homes, causing a major headache for the single family home owners.
The Silly Council mumbles and mumbles and mumbles
To try to solve the problem without putting in resident only parking restrictions on Babb Street, the Silly Council mumbled endlessly about having some guest parking spaces in Summerset made into resident parking spaces or into either/or parking spaces.
This was/is a waste of time. The problem is that people today have more cars than they used to have and the solution is to put in more parking spaces. Sometimes you just need a bigger bag.
The solution to the problem
If the Councilmembers had actually taken the time to go out and view the area, they might have understood what the CM PRESS suggested during public comments on this issue instead of looking at us with ten blank eyes all saying "Huh?"
Summerset has a large green area and a curved sidewalk on the west side of the project outside the walls that could be turned into nicely landscaped parking in such a way that the parking would be almost invisible if a low, heavily landscaped berm were built along Babb Street. Alternatively, there are some green areas within the walls of the project that could also be reconfigured for parking.
It looks to us as though parking for a hundred of more cars could be put in with the above suggestions while still allowing plenty of greenery if designed correctly.
Take a look at the aerial photo of the project in the link above or take a drive over there and you'll see what we mean.
Get rid of some of the friggin' grass, save some water, and make the place comfortable for humans. Geez.
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THE (KATRINA FOLEY RETURN TO REASON?) SENIOR CENTER (This is not a photo of Foley.)
The Silly Council voted last night to set up a committee to take a look at the Senior Center. The CM PRESS suggested that the committee be expanded to include more at-large members. Whether or not this will be done we don't know, but we expect the Senior Center board to resist the idea.
Councilmember Katrina Foley had to recuse herself from the discussion and vote because, if we understand this correctly, her law firm (Foley personally?) apparently has been advising the Senior Center board on matters relating to the city. Isn't that nice?
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THE (KATRINA FOLEY RETURN TO REASON?) SENIOR CENTER (This is not a photo of Foley.)
The Silly Council voted last night to set up a committee to take a look at the Senior Center. The CM PRESS suggested that the committee be expanded to include more at-large members. Whether or not this will be done we don't know, but we expect the Senior Center board to resist the idea.
Councilmember Katrina Foley had to recuse herself from the discussion and vote because, if we understand this correctly, her law firm (Foley personally?) apparently has been advising the Senior Center board on matters relating to the city. Isn't that nice?
In a way it makes sense that Foley would be involved. Many of the board members are Foley supporters and two of them are failed Silly Council candidates who tried to defeat the improver supported members on the Council.
During the discussion, Councilmember Bever publicly corrected the Katrina Foley Almost Daily Daily Pilot by telling the KFADDP reporter in the audience that contrary to what the reporter wrote in the rag, that the City of Costa Mesa does in fact own the building that the Senior Center is in.
How the KFADDP got it wrong is beyond us. We know they read the CM PRESS to find out what's going on in Costa Mesa and to find interesting things to read while waiting for Sam Zell to drop some more bad news on them, and we correctly wrote that the City own
s the building before the KFADDP got it wrong. Maybe they need to read the CM PRESS a little more closely.
Yes, dear friends, we usually get our reportage correct.
That's probably because we played a reporter (brilliantly we might add) in a movie that also had Sondra Locke (Clint Eastwood's girlfriend at the time) and Richard Dreyfuss in small roles. Hey, it's not our fault the director (Bat Masterton star Gene Barry's son ) got booed off the stage at a film festival. Honest. (This is not a photo of us.)
During the discussion, Councilmember Bever publicly corrected the Katrina Foley Almost Daily Daily Pilot by telling the KFADDP reporter in the audience that contrary to what the reporter wrote in the rag, that the City of Costa Mesa does in fact own the building that the Senior Center is in.
How the KFADDP got it wrong is beyond us. We know they read the CM PRESS to find out what's going on in Costa Mesa and to find interesting things to read while waiting for Sam Zell to drop some more bad news on them, and we correctly wrote that the City own
s the building before the KFADDP got it wrong. Maybe they need to read the CM PRESS a little more closely.Yes, dear friends, we usually get our reportage correct.
That's probably because we played a reporter (brilliantly we might add) in a movie that also had Sondra Locke (Clint Eastwood's girlfriend at the time) and Richard Dreyfuss in small roles. Hey, it's not our fault the director (Bat Masterton star Gene Barry's son ) got booed off the stage at a film festival. Honest. (This is not a photo of us.)
Oh, and then there's that little matter about how we used to work for the New York Times at the Gray Lady's headquarters on 42nd and Broadway in NYC. Yes, dear friends, as you can tell, we know news and newspapers.
Still not convinced? We played a radio reporter (also brilliantly) in a second grade play. 'Nuff said?
So, when you want to know what's really happening in Costa Mesa, be sure to read the CM PRESS--the guardian of all things Costa Mesa according to failed Silly Council candidate Mike Scheafer.
Say, did we mention that Scheafer is on the board of the (Katrina Foley Return to Reason?) Senior Center and that he supported Katrina Foley in the just past election?
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them. Be sure to come back often as we, unlike a local almost daily newspaper, move things fast and we know, also unlike a local almost daily newspaper, that we can't bore you into reading what we publish.
