Costa Mesa resident Eric Bever could have been a City Councilman. But
earlier this year, as one of two finalists to fill an empty seat on
the council, he withdrew his name to end a council deadlock. The
gracious move earned him raves throughout the city.
Pulling his name from the running didn't mean Bever was about to
stop being involved in city issues, of course. Lately, he's been
among the vocal crowd debating what to do with the city's Westside.
It's an issue the council could deal with a soon as this month, but
one not likely to be settled any time soon.
This week, Bever took a few minutes to answer questions posed by
Pilot Managing Editor S.J. Cahn.
What do you think are the main items that people are either not
understanding or are mistaken about in regards to redevelopment of
the Westside?
It seems that many in this community are confused and perhaps have
been intentionally misled regarding many aspects of the Westside
Redevelopment area expansion study. Many recent Pilot writers seem to
be oblivious to certain facts:
There are folks who equate the "Bluff Rezoning" with
redevelopment, and eminent domain. This is an understandable, but
entirely incorrect assumption. Rezoning would simply give all
property owners in the rezoned area the opportunity to build
residential developments on their property. It would in no way hamper
the existing residential, and does not require removal of other
previously approved uses. If anything, rezoning the bluffs would have
a beneficial impact on existing residential, as neighboring property
owners built more homes, the values would improve, as would the
quality of life.
Some believe that adoption of a redevelopment area means that
every property, including many that are not even in the preliminary
study area will be subject to eminent domain. It is extremely
doubtful that Costa Mesa would desire this approach, or that the city
could ever finance such a scheme. There is no reason to scrape the
area to bare earth, as some fear will happen. Adoption of a
redevelopment area does not necessarily mean that the Redevelopment
Agency will also decide to use eminent domain, and, if it is any
comfort, the Redevelopment Area does not seem to be tending toward
removal of existing housing stock.
There are those who seem to believe that the adoption of the
preliminary study area is adoption of a redevelopment area with
eminent domain. The Redevelopment Agency has been considering only
the preliminary plan study area, which, as a natural part of the
