Banning Ranch plans watched

Costa Mesa city officials said Friday they will continue to monitor plans to develop Banning Ranch. The roughly 400-acre area borders the western edge of the Costa Mesa, and some have raised concerns on how adding housing, a hotel and shopping to the undeveloped area would affect traffic in the city. The city also wants to have access to the large open areas, walking trails and parks developers promise will be part of the project.

“I guess at the end of the day my greatest concern for Banning Ranch is related to traffic and open space,” said Councilwoman Katrina Foley.

Newport Beach-sponsored traffic studies could begin as early as this summer to assess how much of an impact development in Banning Ranch could have on Costa Mesa streets, said Marice White, a spokeswoman for Newport Banning Ranch LLC, a consortium of the three owners of the land.

Many of the questions city officials have about traffic and Banning Ranch will remain unanswered until more specific plans have bee drafted, said Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder, but Costa Mesa would probably be a back door to the area.

Land developers unveiled revised plans Thursday to build homes, a 75-room hotel and shopping areas in Banning Ranch that would leave as much as 70% of the land preserved as open space. The preliminary plans show Costa Mesa linked to the area by roads that would connect with 17th, 16th and 15th streets.

Costa Mesa also wants to have access to the trails and parks land developers promise would be part of any development of the area, Roeder said.

“We want to make sure that it’s integrated into surrounding land and not isolated from Costa Mesa,” Roeder said. “Ostensibly, Costa Mesa would become the back door to the site and we want those trails linked in to the city.”

Tentative plans released earlier this week include a network of walking trails and small parks that would be open to the community. Costa Mesa would be connected to the trails along the boundaries of Banning Ranch, White said.

“The plans take Costa Mesa into consideration and take that point very seriously,” White said. “The community absolutely won’t be gated. Particularly with the amount of open space there, we feel that it should be open and accessible to everyone.”

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.