Westside Costa Mesa

Report on the Westside Specific Plan...Back on Track?

Oct 04, 2000

The shortcomings of the draft Specific Plan for the Westside of Costa Mesa prepared by EIP Associates for the City are of primary interest to the WIA. Our group - and its hundreds of members - were greatly concerned about the fact that much of the citizen input had been overlooked in the creation of the Plan.

At meetings held by EIP over the course of a year or more, Westsiders had voted overwhelmingly to replace rundown, high-density neighborhoods with new single-family homes and condominiums. This input was not reflected in the draft Plan, which instead called for more high-density housing. With the support of our members, many of whom joined at our meeting on April 25, 2000 at Victoria Elementary School, the Westside Improvement Association succeeded in sending a clear message to our City Council and City staff: We want real improvement! We Westsiders have enlightened the City Council that the Westside is a place of great potential, l and have encouraged the City to make it a much nicer area.

The City sent EIP, and the draft Plan, back to the drawing board. Although the revised Plan has not yet been made public, Allan Roeder, the City Manager, has assured us that the new draft Plan includes the input of all interested parties. While WIA cannot comment on the new Plan until it has been reviewed in detail, WIA leadership is encouraged that the City has responded to the concerns of our members, and has reportedly included WIA's voice in the new Plan. At the moment, it appears that the Westside Specific Plan process is back on track.