Time for a little mediation

STEVE SMITH

To most readers, their only concern about ripping out a corner

property to put up a strip mall or expanding the territory of a local

church is whether one or the other will affect his or her daily life.

Sorry to be so blunt, but that’s the reality of being a member of

the self-centered species known as the human race.

If you lived in Newport Beach a few years ago, it was nearly

impossible to get you interested in the rebirth of the shopping

center known as Harbor Center and all the controversy that surrounded

it. And if you now live in Costa Mesa, or in much of Newport Beach,

it’s not easy to get moved over the plans for the expansion of St.

Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport.

But if you want to preserve your personal habitat, or at least

keep future changes from rocking your world, whether it’s in Newport

Beach or Costa Mesa, you should pay attention to the church brouhaha

in Newport.

St. Andrews is directly across the street from Newport Harbor High

School and also firmly planted in the thick of a very nice,

established neighborhood in Newport Beach. The church wants to grow

by about 35,000 square feet, and plenty of residents in the

comfortable homes around the church think that’s a really bad idea.

The neighborhood is peppered with “No Expansion” signs.

Me? I don’t care whether the church expands. Whether they grow

will have no direct effect on me and very little indirect effect. I’m

self-centered just like the rest of you.

What I do care about is how this issue is resolved. I care -- very

much -- about the process. I care far more about the steps leading to

the “yea” or “nay” on the project than I do about the project itself.

I care about the process because one day very soon, I will again

be faced with taking a side on some expansion project near my home,

just as I was with Harbor Center a few years ago. Soon, a project

like Harbor Center or St. Andrew’s will come to your doorstep or to

the doorstep of a good friend or some other place you frequent. I can

practically guarantee it.

Newport Beach and Costa Mesa are all but out of undeveloped land

on which to build new projects. As a result, both cities -- as with a

growing list of cities in the county -- are resorting to the

redevelopment of existing properties. Sometimes it’s known as infill,

and sometimes -- as in the case of St. Andrew’s -- it’s just a matter

of no where else to go.

One recent infill project close to St. Andrew’s was the loss of a

Coco’s restaurant on the corner of 17th Street and Irvine Avenue in

favor of a Comerica Bank. Out with the old. In with the new.

The St. Andrew’s challenge, therefore, is only a symptom of a much

larger problem, one that we will all face in the coming years.

Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg agrees.

“The same type of situation arose with the Mormon Temple,”

Bromberg told me. “Wherever the next situation comes, it will have

the same type of symptoms because that’s all we have.”

“People resist change. But at the same time, we have to recognize

that there will be change. Our goal as elected officials -- and it

should be the goal of the communities as well -- is to move forward

with that change in a very balanced and realistic way.”

All true. Change is coming to a corner near you. Maybe not now,

maybe not next year, but it will come.

I didn’t ask Bromberg about his view of the St. Andrew’s expansion

because it was not relevant to my line of questioning. I wanted to

know about the process, so when he mentioned the Mormon Temple, I

asked what the city learned from that process that could be applied

to the St. Andrew’s situation.

“I sat down with the representatives of [both sides} of the

situation, separately, and I said, ‘Before this gets out of hand,

I’ve learned from experience that you should call in a neutral third

party who understands the issue, who understands the people and see

if we can bring together some type of town hall mediation.’ It took

me eight months to do it, but it worked with the Mormon Temple.”

Bromberg knows about mediation, as it is a significant part of the

law that he practices. Regardless, I agree with him. Emotions run too

high in these situations, and when that happens, things get personal

and choices are made for the wrong reasons.

We can all learn a lesson from the resolution of the Mormon Temple

and from the process that is now underway over the St. Andrews

expansion. See? There’s something in this for everyone.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(714) 966-4664 or send story ideas to [email protected].