Lolita Harper
COSTA MESA -- Among the list of top priorities for the City Council
over the next few years will be the preservation of city art, cracking
down on loiterers and figuring out how to rezone the Westside bluffs.
Those decisions came as the council met this week to narrow down what
it hopes to accomplish during the coming years.
At the Monday meeting, council members approved 18 goals that were
outlined and discussed at a special Saturday meeting last month. During
that meeting, the council, the Planning Commission and the Parks,
Recreational Facilities and Parkways Commission identified the issues
they want resolved.
Finance Director Marc Puckett said there have been 202 community
objectives outlined, with 138 completed.
City leaders also will focus on guaranteeing the use of half the
anticipated revenues from the future Ikea furniture store -- slated to be
built on the Home Ranch site just north of the San Diego Freeway -- to
fund a bond to place utilities underground citywide.
This was the first year the two commissions joined the council in
creating community goals.
All goals laid out by council members were approved, except those from
Councilman Chris Steel. Only one of Steel's three community objectives
survived the scrutiny of his colleagues. The council agreed to support
incentives to developers who wish to convert various Westside properties
to owner-occupied housing.
Councilman Gary Monahan questioned Steel's suggestion to regulate
charitable organizations in the city. The objective was too broad and
opened up the city to a variety of legal trouble, Monahan said.
"What size charities are we talking about? Where are they located?"
Monahan asked. "I think we would be sending staff on a huge wild goose
chase."
After explaining his opposition, Monahan made a motion -- which was
immediately seconded -- and just as Mayor Linda Dixon began calling for a
vote, Steel finally got a word in.
"Wait a minute!" Steel interrupted. "We have problems here, and they
are one of the big causes of the problems in this city. There is no
question in the eyes of most people that [large charities] are a magnet
for many of the problems."
His last-minute plea was dismissed, as his colleagues voted down his
proposal by a 4-1 vote. Steel dissented.
Although Steel had no support with the previous goal, he found an
unusual ally in Councilwoman Libby Cowan when his community objective to
more strictly limit some kinds of commercial uses on 19th Street and
Placentia Avenue was scrutinized.
