Planners mull bringing fun into city

Lolita Harper

Planning and recreation officials last week discussed a pioneering

suggestion to bring more commercial recreation to the city to counter

what many residents consider an amusement drought after the closure

of the Kona Lanes Bowling alley.

At a study session on Monday, in which planning and parks and

recreation commissioners were present, officials discussed ways to

promote commercial recreation in Costa Mesa, including the

possibility of designating specific areas, or “overlay zones,” that

are suitable for such businesses.

Planning Commissioner Katrina Foley suggested that the city come

up with goals and policies to update the general plan to include a

commercial recreation element. Doing so would show that the city has

a vision that includes fun, commercial activities such as rock

climbing parks, an extreme sports arena, a water park, swim schools

or an outdoor theater, she said.

“People want to have places where their family can go and have

activities that aren’t just going to the park or the mall,” Foley

said. “They want to have in-line skating, or an outdoor theater or a

swim school. There are a lot of different types of recreation that we

are lacking here in Costa Mesa.”

Since the early 1990s, when the Ice Chalet skating rink on Harbor

Boulevard was shuttered, recreation in Costa Mesa has faltered. A few

years later, the Edwards Cinema, also in the Mesa Verde Shopping

Center, declared bankruptcy and closed its doors.

Kona Lanes, a funky hold-over from the 1960s with its flashing

neon sign and vintage tiki motif, was the lone survivor of the south

side of the center.

Until recently.

In May 2002, C.J. Segerstrom & Sons -- the owners of the shopping

center -- proposed demolition of the alley and former rink and

theater to make way for a Kohl’s department store. The proposal

roused the community, and a renewed focus on recreation was born.

Residents argued that the city had too many department stores and

not enough “to do.” Children, teens and families had nowhere to go

for fun anymore, they argued.

While the Segerstroms lamented the demise of the entertainment

venues at the site, company officials said the market simply did not

support that kind of use. Frankly, recreation at the Mesa Verde

center was not a viable business.

Development of the controversial Kohl’s department store is up in

the air, as the City Council denied plans based on environmental

reports that politicians said proved the store simply did not fit in

the center.

Bringing fun, family activities to Costa Mesa is certainly a

popular idea, but creating official policy to promote it is a

slippery slope, detractors said.

Parks Commissioner Wendy Leece said the city should not force

people to open a specific business on their property. It is wrong to

mandate a specific use of someone’s land, she said. It is fine to

encourage commercial recreation, but it is completely different to

mandate it.

Leece instead suggested a “friendly” policy that makes it well

known that Costa Mesa welcomes recreation-based businesses.

* Costa Mesa reporter Deirdre Newman contributed to this story.