A closer look -- Zoning changes muddy water for some
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Lolita Harper
COSTA MESA -- The “transitional zoning” of a small, residential
portion of West 19th Street may have been lifted, but the fog that
surrounds the issue is still very thick.
Since the City Council voted unanimously this month to return the area
formally known as the “19th Street Transitional Zone” to a purely
residential neighborhood -- blocking the opening of any business that is
not already established -- more questions about code enforcement and
property values and rights have been raised, officials said.
City Manager Allan Roeder said the council’s action prompted a series
of questions from the Planning Department, Planning Commissioners and
residents about the enforcement of the detailed provisions that govern
the newly residential area.
“Is this [issue] a little muddled?” Roeder said. “The answer is yes.”
Preparing for a bridge
In 1965, a portion of West 19th Street was designated a “transitional
area” in the anticipation of a 19th Street bridge over the Santa Ana
River. At that time, city officials said the bridge would require a
gradual change in the existing properties from low-density residential to
commercial use, a staff report says.
The area maintained its residential zoning but an additional
“transitional layer” was created to allow businesses to be run from the
properties. The transitional area runs from 854 to 1014 W. 19th St. --
even numbered properties only -- and 1903 Federal Ave.
Council members voted to return the residential feel to the street now
that the city is in the process of removing the bridge from official
plans. An added provision of the zone change allows the 10 existing
businesses in the 31-property area to continue operating indefinitely but
bars them from expanding the business or selling their house for a
different commercial use.
And at that point, the fog is rolling in.
Roeder said members of the Planning Department started scrutinizing
details of the zoning change the day after the council’s vote. What would
happen if a property owner, who also happens to run a business from his
home, wanted to add a den to the house? He would have the right to do so
under a purely residential zone, but would be prohibited from using the
den for business purposes, Roeder said.
“Once the den is built, how would we know that he is using it in
accordance to the zoning?” Roeder asked. “It is not a nice, clean, easy
delineation.”
Skirting the law
Planning Commissioner Eleanor Egan raised more concerns regarding code
enforcement in the area. During public comment at the last City Council
meeting on June 3, Egan said she suspected various regulations in the
transitional zone were widely violated.
For example, Egan said Friday, it appears that some property owners
have chosen to convert the garage area into living space or additional
work space for the business. Under existing property maintenance codes,
single-family homes are required to have a garage, Egan said.
Although the area allows for commercial operation, it still carries
nearly all the same regulations as any other low-density residential
zone, Egan said. Furthermore, many businesses have turned what should be
a front yard into a parking lot, she said.
“These places are supposed to look like homes and be used as homes;
they are not supposed to be full-fledged businesses,” Egan said.
Sandi Benson, the city’s chief of code enforcement, said her officers
have found and cited some of the properties for converting the garage to
living space and renting it out as an apartment. One investigation even
found a property owner renting out a recreational vehicle, she said.
Officers have concentrated on enforcing property maintenance codes,
Benson said. Benson said her department will start to monitor the
existing businesses to make sure they don’t change or expand.
Egan said she was also under the assumption that the owner of the
business was mandated to live in the home and suggested the issue be
researched.
Don Lamm, the city director of development, said the city had never
been concerned with that issue and conceded it would be extremely hard to
enforce. City government is not intended to be aware of every aspect of
people’s daily operations.
“People need to realize that we are reactive and try to stay out of
people’s lives,” Lamm said.
As city officials examine the affects of the zoning change, business
owners of the area are formulating their own questions.
A subtle reason for change?
Nori Bunasawa, owner of the Judo Journal at 880 W. 19th St., has
consistently questioned the real reason behind the sudden need for a
zoning change on 19th Street. Bunasawa suspects a financial motivation
linked to the upcoming redevelopment of the Westside.
Bunasawa said he believes the city is trying to devalue the properties
to make the possibility of eminent domain -- the city’s right to purchase
properties in a defined redevelopment area at market value -- less
costly.
To be able to buy into that theory, it must be proven that the
properties are actually worth less as a result of the zoning change,
Roeder said. Only an appraisal of the property can determine that, the
city manager said.
Property owner W.D. Heidorn, who does not own a business in the area,
said the zoning change protected business owners from losing money on
their land but not him. He said he bought his parcel on West 19th because
it had the potential to house a business. Heidorn has now lost the right
to open a business and therefore the property is worth less.
Roeder disagreed. Appraisals are based on the current use of the
property, not its potential. Properties that do not have businesses have
not been developed or utilized to their full value, Roeder said.
“If the owners choose not to exercise that option, is it the city’s
responsibility to compensate them for a business decision they did not
make?”
* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)
574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .
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