City unveils new plans for West Side

Noaki Schwartz

COSTA MESA -- Residents hoping for clarity on the eagerly anticipated

plan to revitalize the city’s West Side left Monday’s lightning-quick

presentation with more questions than answers.

“I’m concerned about the narrowing of 19th Street,” said resident Paul

Bunney. “It will mean more traffic for Victoria, 17th and 18th streets.”

Mayor Gary Monahan, however, tried to assure community members that the

30-minute Planning Commission and City Council presentation was an

overview. Monahan said there will be a significant amount of time for

public comments when the West Side plan is discussed at future Planning

Commission and City Council meetings.

The draft is the product of an ongoing effort that began three years ago,

when the city voted to improve the neighborhood’s traffic, rundown areas

and lack of diverse retail.

Los Angeles-based EIP Associates incorporated a significant amount of

public input into the initial design, called a draft, which took about a

year to create. Elwood C. Tescher, of EIP, said that a copy of the plan

would be available later this week for public review.

The plan includes proposals to create a community center at 19th Street

and Placentia Avenue, to strengthen neighborhoods through greater

interaction and to improve street scapes and landscapes. The idea is to

create an overall sense of community belonging and to improve the

economic activity of the West Side.

“I think it’s very exciting,” Councilwoman Libby Cowan said.

Residents at the meeting, however, called the outline vague and rushed.

Many left still concerned about traffic problems that the plan was

supposed to alleviate.

Costa Mesa resident Bob Graham wondered how the city would successfully

host a proposed community street fair and at the same time cut traffic.

The two seemed counteractive, he said.

The plan’s lukewarm reception is not surprising, given the history of

fits and starts that the revitalization project has had to overcome.

The plan was originally expected to be completed by the summer of 1999.

But in August of last year, a group of the city’s Latino leaders

complained that the consultants neglected to get the input of the

neighborhood’s largest ethnic group. Latinos account for about 45% of the

West Side, according to a report in a UC Irvine graduate study.

The plan’s due date was postponed and the Latino Community Advisors group

was formed to collect comments from Latino residents.

In January, the Latino leaders made recommendations to the City Council

and its consultants. The group’s priorities included a need for improved

housing and shopping areas and building a middle school.