New West Side group to meet tonight

Andrew Glazer

WEST SIDE -- A recently formed homeowners group will meet tonight to

discuss how to boost property values in their neighborhood.

The West Side Improvement Assn. came into being after consultants

released a plan outlining how the city could improve traffic flow, clean

up trash and reduce crime in the area.

The group’s founders said the city-hired consultants used input from

various special-interest groups in drafting the report, but ignored

homeowners.

“They figured they could all put us and all the bad stuff in one little

area and keep their little pristine hands off us,” founder Janice

Davidson said.

City officials and a consultant from Los Angeles-based firm, EIP,

Associates, maintain that everyone in the neighborhood had and will have

equal say in the planning process.

The consultants held several meetings before releasing the draft plan.

And they will hold several public workshops now that the plan has been

released.

But some neighborhood factions, such as the homeowners group, want to

make sure they’re heard.

“Real Estate agents tell buyers the West Side is a dump,” said Eric

Bever, co-founder of the group. “We think it’s the nicest place in town.

And we’d like to see that stigma go away.”

Bever said he’d like the area -- a checkerboard of small industries,

homes and apartments -- to look more like Mesa Verde.

Davidson said the city should focus on enforcing the area’s building and

trash codes instead of developing dramatic long-term strategies.

“We are the gem that is unpolished,” she said. “I would be an old lady

before any of these things happen.”

The West Side Improvement Assn. will meet from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. today at

Victoria Elementary School, 1025 Victoria St., Costa Mesa.