Readers Respond -- Westside story still untold

Do not scrap the Westside plan. It’s a good idea. I would certainly go

ahead with it. I think the poor people have a better advantage in life if

they have a nice place to walk and park and enjoy like some of the rest

of the people do.

They work as hard as they can, and they don’t make any salaries at

all. I think some of those little shops there could certainly be revised

and some of the homes should be fixed up -- and the streets.

DOLA MILLER

Newport Beach

Your question, about whether scrapping the Westside plan is a good

idea, may not be a real good question for most of the people in Costa

Mesa.

The company that the council hired to come up with a plan and to

analyze the situation has put together a plan and a copy of it can be had

at City Hall. I don’t think that a whole lot of people have seen the plan

-- studied the plan. I don’t think it’s been real well publicized. The

new plan hasn’t really come up for any public hearings or been shown at

any town hall meetings.

So when people answer your question about scrapping the Westside plan,

they may not really know what the Westside plan is and whether they think

it is a good idea or not.

We need to know what something is before we can let you know what our

opinion is.

I do know; I have looked at it. I think that it’s kind of a

more-detailed rehash of the old plan, which was not adequate to address a

lot of the problems on the Westside.

The thing is not that we don’t need a Westside plan, but that we need

one that really takes into consideration the residents of the Westside,

the businesses of the Westside and how it fits into the whole city of

Costa Mesa. We all live in this city together. We’re all one city.

ROBIN LEFFLER

Costa Mesa

I think that the Westside plan should not be scrapped.

It should be used as a basis. It should be fine-tuned and improved

upon to develop a workable plan for the Westside.

Key to the Westside is going to be revitalization of the intersection

of 19th Street and Placentia Avenue.

That shopping center needs to be improved; when it is improved, it’ll

serve as a key point for revitalization of the whole Westside area. Let’s

move forward.

RICHARD ROBERTSON

Costa Mesa

I feel the plan had good merits while it was brought up. However, I

don’t think the whole plan should be scrapped, since I have a 1976

Westside plan that is basically saying the same information 24 years

later.

We need to get this going. We don’t need to scrap the whole thing. We

need to amend it and move on and set timelines down so that we can get

this done.

JAMES KELLER

Costa Mesa

Scrap the plan! At least there was a plan. Was Westside Costa Mesa

addressed as part of a “master plan” when South Coast Plaza, the

Performing Arts Center, the new Harbor Center, Triangle Square or any

other areas in Costa Mesa were developed? Not as far as I know.

What does the City Council need the Westside to conform to? The plan

was labeled the “specific” plan, not a plan conforming to a general plan.

By definition the plan was to serve for improving the Westside. How

can we go down the road of progress only to run into a dead end? Who have

we elected that approves of hiring a consultant only to figure out they

forgot to look at the big picture?

How was an assessment made that the Westside needs to be a part of the

bigger picture?

Plain and simple criteria for our neighborhood: We want it safe for

our children, we want it cleaned up, and we want it to contain the

services needed to support the community. What is wrong with these simple

needs?

My family was strongly considering leaving the Westside until a

“specific” plan was envisioned that seemingly cleaned the area up and for

the most part eliminated the possibility for a 19th Street bridge.

We had decided to remain in the Westside since the city was

“committed” to making Westside Costa Mesa a better place to live. We are

currently having plans drawn up for another remodel and pool addition.

With my faith in the council lost, I will once again consider not

improving, and instead, strongly consider leaving for a safer, cleaner,

more supportive environment for my family.

With all the drunks, violent crimes, garbage and homeless in this

area, I’ll never consider it safe for my child to walk around as I was

able to in my childhood hometown.

CRAIG R. PETERSON

Costa Mesa

Scrapping the Westside Revitalization Plan is probably the best idea

that the council has had thus far this year.

The council has ignored the most important factor of the

revitalization. The problem on the Westside is the slum lords and/or

property owners who charge very little rent for places to live that are

rundown, trashy, in dire need of updating and not well kept in general.

Pedestrian friendly sidewalks and cleaning up the businesses on the

Westside should be the last of the problems taken care of.

Come on, let’s get to the real root of the problems.

LYNNE HARRIS

Costa Mesa