Costa Mesa must remove industrial past from Westside

The Costa Mesa City Redevelopment Agency met the evening of Aug. 10.

The City Council, acting as the agency, postponed until October a

decision on whether to grant the request of a group of industrial

property owners to have their property excluded from the area

designated for redevelopment. The industrialists made the move in

order to preclude not only the inclusion of their property in the

redevelopment area, but also to prevent any move by the City Council

to rezone the area residential.

The industrial use is a holdover from earlier days in Costa Mesa

when the use could possibly be justified. But today, when the city is

virtually built out and in need of new housing, it is an entirely

inappropriate use of these highly desirable locations. Costa Mesa

should not be held hostage today by decisions of the past.

Mayor Gary Monahan gave a glimpse of his position on the

industrials’ request when he launched into a mini-dissertation on the

redevelopment (now called “revitalization”) of the area. Monahan

cautioned that no one could expect a “quick fix” and virtually

discounted any possibility of redevelopment, stating that there just

isn’t any money for it. That appears to be the precursor of, and

justification for, his possible vote in favor of the industrialists’

request to have their property excluded from the redevelopment area.

Well, I have news for the mayor; no one expects a “quick fix.” We are

not stupid.

Where do the other council members stand on the matter? Who knows?

Councilman Mike Scheafer begged off, citing his newcomer status, but

my guess is that he will follow Monahan’s lead. Councilman Allan

Mansoor recused himself because he resides within 500 feet of the

area in question.

Some of the industrialists and their supporters discounted

allegations of toxic air pollution evidenced by offensive odors (and

incidentally, by reports by agencies who measure pollution) by

comparing the odors to those that can be observed when passing by a

nearby sewage treatment plant in another city. It is ludicrous to

compare sewage odors to those containing toxic chemicals potentially

capable of causing cancer and a whole host of other ailments. Yet

another speaker alleged that air pollution can occur in Costa Mesa

from areas located in other cities, such as Los Angeles, depending on

how the wind blows. Hello, we have a predominant onshore breeze in

Costa Mesa.

It is time to get serious about improvement in Costa Mesa. The

bluffs are the logical place to start. The industrial use needs to

go. If some just can’t get behind redevelopment, simply rezoning the

bluffs would accomplish the same thing. Over time, the industrial

sites would gradually be replaced by the dynamics of free market

forces, without the need for redevelopment. Rezoning the bluffs is

the very least that must be done if improvement is ever to come to

pass on Costa Mesa’s Westside.

I am a property rights advocate, but property rights are not

absolute and really cease when they begin to interfere with the

rights of others’ enjoyment of their property and, in this case, even

their health. Can we have some leadership here?

* ILA JOHNSON is a Costa Mesa resident.