Westside Costa Mesa

City Council Developments

Oct 04, 2000

Since the formation of the WIA, the City Council has taken actions of interest to the Westside. To keep members and friends informed, this is a summary of some of those actions:

1. Revision of the Westside Specific Plan (See previous article.)
2. Inclusion of funds in the Budget to plant trees in irrigated tree wells along Placentia Avenue from Victoria Street south to the City Limit.
3. Budgeting for, and approval of hiring of, three full-time Code Enforcement Officers and one clerical support employee, in addition to the four full-time and three part-time Code Enforcement Officers currently employed.
4. A moratorium on small-lot subdivisions, pending adoption of new regulations. The moratorium temporarily stops a type of development in which a single-family house on an R2 lot is replaced with four, five, six or more freestanding houses, usually two-story, with almost no yard.
5. A new ordinance that requires higher standards of property maintenance. Peeling paint, overflowing trash containers, dead landscaping, and similar forms of blight will be prohibited for the first time in Costa Mesa. Storage of household goods on the roofs of carports and dwelling units will also be prohibited, as will fencing or screening of those areas.
6. Increase in the amount of civil fines for Code violations to $75 for a first offense and $200 for each subsequent offense. (Violators are typically not cited if they heed a warning and clear up the violation.)
7. Increase in the maximum reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of graffiti vandals to $2,000.

WIA is very pleased with these actions by the City Council. We plan to build on them and to do our utmost to ensure that the Westside Specific Plan and its implementation meet the needs of the Westside community.