Inside City Hall

WHAT HAPPENED: The City Council approved a plan Monday to expand a

vacant restaurant space at South Coast Plaza by 662 feet and reduce its

outdoor dining patio by 172 square feet to make room for Z’Tejas Grill, a

Southwestern cuisine restaurant with a bar.

WHAT IT MEANS: The expansion, which requires a master plan amendment,

will be in a space previously occupied by Piret’s, between Sears and

Clubhouse Restaurant.

WHAT THEY SAID: “Welcome to Costa Mesa,” said Councilwoman Linda Dixon

to Kevin Hale, regional director of Z’Tejas, which has eight restaurants

nationwide.

VOTE: 5-0 approved

WHAT HAPPENED: The council decided to help rebuild a block wall on

Harbor Boulevard, between Princeton Drive and the Orange County Jeep

Dealership.

The wall -- already described as in poor condition in a September

staff report -- was further damaged when a car ran into it in November.

WHAT IT MEANS: The city will split expenses with the neighboring

residents to fix the wall.

The city will also try to get recoup the costs from the driver who

smashed into the wall.

WHAT THEY SAID: Two residents described the wall and urged the council

to partner with neighbors to rebuild it instead of patch it up.

“I’ve looked at that block wall for 44 years,” said longtime community

leader Hank Panian. “There are no rebars in its construction. It

certainly cannot meet current codes. . . . If the third little pig had

made his house out of brick like that wall and the wolf had huffed and

puffed, it would have fallen down too.”

Marie Maples, who lives in front of the wall, said the “no-good stack

of bricks” has been hit by several cars since she moved there about 40

years ago.

“It is block on top of block with no reinforcement,” she said. “It was

there when I bought the house, but it ain’t there now. . . . There are

100 different colors of block wall because nobody puts the same color of

brick and nobody puts any reinforcement. They just put some glue. It’s

made wrong.”

NEXT MEETING:

6:30 p.m. Jan. 15 at City Hall, 77 Fair Drive