Request to build 5 homes denied

Lolita Harper

Plans to build five single-family homes on a large Eastside lot

were stamped out Monday as City Council members sided with both city

planners and planning commissioners, who previously recommended that

the project be denied.

The council unanimously turned down the owner of 258 Santa Isabel

Ave., spurning his request to deviate from the city’s new lot-size

requirements and obtain a “planned development residential” zoning

designation, which generally allows for more lenience in an effort to

encourage creative projects.

David M. Swerdlin, who represented property owner Farhad Khosravi,

asked the council members to postpone the item so his client could

come back with a reconfigured project that would not mandate the

special zoning requirement.

Mayor Linda Dixon suggested the council deny the project anyway,

saying city leaders needed to eradicate “spot zoning,” or the

practice of changing zoning and creating inconsistency in a

neighborhood.

“We need to send a strong message that we are committed to

upholding the integrity of [low-density] residential neighborhoods,”

Dixon said.

Denial of the proposed project marked a unity between the council,

Planning Commission and planning staff that had been absent in recent

high-profile project proposals. Last month, the council reversed the

Planning Commission’s approval of a second-story addition to a

Westside home and, in an unrelated action, opted against staff

recommendations to allow another two-story remodel in a Mesa Verde

development.

Swerdlin said it was clear after the Planning Commission meeting

that the proposed project was not going to fly and that is why his

client was asking that the issue be delayed to allow Khosravi to

propose a more suitable project. The request was denied because the

council wanted to make a statement, he said.

“We got the message,” Swerdlin said.

Khosravi had initially asked for the zoning change so he could

build five detached, two-story homes on his half-acre lot. On July 1,

the City Council approved zoning changes that require a lot be at

least an acre in size before it is considered for the planned

development designation.

Khosravi had described his proposal as an attractive addition to

the community that encompassed award-winning architecture and would

increase neighborhood property values. He asked that his project be

given special consideration.

Developers who don’t meet the required specifications may qualify

for a variance but only in special circumstances, such as unusual

shape or size of a lot, according to a staff report.

Planner Mel Lee said the Santa Isabel Avenue property did not

qualify as a special circumstance. In addition to not meeting the

one-acre requirement, the individual portions of the project were

well below the minimum square-footage requirements. The city requires

a minimum of 5,000 square feet for small lot divisions. The owner is

proposing parcels as small as 3,410 square feet.

New plans for the Santa Isabel lot will be submitted again to the

Planning Department and must enter the review process from the

beginning because of the council’s denial.

Councilwoman Karen Robinson said Khosravi had “done a nice job” on

the project but that the proposed lots were simply too small for the

neighborhood.

“Come back with 6,000-square-foot lots, and I will be in support,”

Robinson said.

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at [email protected].