City aiming to land development funds

Alicia Robinson

Asking City Council members how Costa Mesa can be improved would

probably yield five different answers. Throw city residents’ opinions

into the mix, and reaching consensus is a big job.

Over the next three months, city officials will use input from

elected leaders and a survey of residents to hash out a plan to spend

federal grants to better Costa Mesa. The city is preparing to apply

for money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,

and to get those funds, it’s required to have a five-year

“consolidated plan” explaining how the money would be spent.

The city generally gets as much as $2.5 million a year in HUD

funds, some of which must be spent on housing programs such as

helping first-time home buyers with down payments and fixing rental

housing for low-income families, City Manager Allan Roeder said.

“In recent years, there’s been a shift of emphasis expressed by

the council in wanting to do more owner-occupied projects, to create

more opportunities for home ownership as opposed to rental housing,”

Roeder said.

But that poses its own challenges -- because home prices have

risen so rapidly here, it takes a huge amount of public subsidies to

bring them to a level affordable to low-income families, he said.

The rest of the HUD funds can go to a range of public-improvement

projects -- in the past the city has helped fund a recreation center,

paid for street maintenance and code enforcement on the city’s

Westside, and given money to organizations that help the homeless.

More redevelopment projects on the Westside will likely be

considered for funding, and Councilwoman Katrina Foley wants to use

some money toward athletic facilities at Estancia and Costa Mesa high

schools, for which some in the community are already collecting.

Funding to help the city’s homeless could be reduced next fiscal

year, if the council agrees with a recommendation from a city

redevelopment committee.

Up to 15% of some HUD funds can go to nonprofit agencies, and in

previous years as much as 40% of that total went to services for the

homeless, Roeder said. Last year, the council reduced the 40% to 25%,

and the redevelopment committee has suggested bringing it down to

10%.

The council’s decision this year may hinge on what is learned from

a countywide effort to count Orange County’s homeless population,

Roeder said.

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor said he wants to stick with the

city’s previous priorities, but he’s flexible.

“I would like to keep the focus on seniors and infrastructure

repair, but if other options are put forward, I’m certainly willing

to look at them,” Mansoor said. “There’s certainly a need for senior

housing. Some of the organizations fund meals for seniors and other

types of assistance, and just in listening to the community, I think

it’s something we need to focus on more than we have in the past.”

The council will likely discuss the city’s consolidated plan and

applications for federal grants in April. An action plan that

includes funding for near-term projects will be part of the annual

budget the council will vote on in June.

Residents can tell the city their priorities in a survey on the

city’s website at https://www.ci.costa-mesa.ca.us.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

[email protected].