COSTA MESA CITY COUNCIL PREVIEW

Here are some items the council will consider Tuesday.

WESTSIDE PLANS

Two condo projects, one including retail space, will go through the first step toward approval when the council reviews them tonight. Council members won’t vote on the projects yet, but they’ll get briefed on the plans and give input that may help developers make changes before they face a vote.

A project at 2068 and 2070 Maple Ave. would replace a single-family home and unused day-care building with seven two-story homes and a common area for residents. The 0.55-acre property already is surrounded by single-family homes.

At the other project site, 1695 Superior Ave. and 635 W. 17th St., the proposal is to build a 10,000-square-foot commercial space as a new produce market for Growers Direct, which is now on the other side of Superior. Above the market would be up to 24 condos and a rooftop garden for residents. A partially underground garage would provide parking.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The council may suggest changes, and the projects will come back in more detail to the planning commission and then the council for approval.

DEVELOPER APPEAL

The planning commission in March rejected developer Barry Saywitz’s request to convert a four-unit apartment complex to condos that could be sold separately, so he is appealing the decision. When commissioners denied the project, they pointed out that because it was built in the 1970s it doesn’t conform to today’s standards for parking, open space and other requirements.

Saywitz told the city he would repaint the buildings, replace outside doors and windows, add upscale finishes inside and otherwise upgrade the complex, and he wrote in his appeal that he received approval for another conversion with the same parking and open space situation.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Council members have enough concerns with condo conversions to approve a temporary moratorium on them, but Saywitz was one of several developers whose projects were exempt from the moratorium because they were already in the pipeline when it was approved. It’s not clear how rigidly the council will interpret the rules in this case.

— Compiled by

Alicia Robinson