Habitat

In these days of campaigns and promises we hear a lot about the future of our country, our state -- our community of Costa Mesa. We all want what is best for tomorrow, but we don't have the money to make all the changes. But there is an avenue for long-term permanent change available today and it will cost us nothing and reap a lot of benefits. It's Habitat for Humanity and their request for a general plan amendment to build eight additional single-family units on a 1.5-acre property in Costa Mesa.

I'm hopeful that the community will open its heart and its mind to the homes that are proposed for [College Park]. If indeed it's going to be low-density residential, I think it'll serve the community well. The eight happy homeowners who take over these homes will have extreme pride of ownership, many times more so than current residents. Habitat for Humanity builds a style and look that always fits into the neighborhood. They try not to stick out; therefore, they blend in. I hope the community recognizes that this is a needed project and that they'll allow it to go through without establishing so many restrictions and ultimatums that it becomes unrealistic for growth and housing there.

No. Habitat for Humanity, however well-intentioned a business corporation, is marginalizing, isolating, stigmatizing and ghettoizing the people who will be placed in the eight homes behind a 14-foot wall. I am completely opposed to this. I was opposed to my own home being placed behind the loading dock of a regional warehouse. In good conscience, I cannot avoid speaking up to help those people who may be in the same boat. KATHARINE BEQUETTE Costa Mesa I called to support the project of Habitat for Humanity.

Deepa Bharath Neighbors expressed concerns Tuesday about a proposed affordable-housing project in a College Park neighborhood, saying it would make the area more congested. The plan proposed by Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that builds homes for low-income families, is for eight single-family homes on a 1.5-acre property east of Harbor Center, city officials said at a community meeting in City Council chambers Tuesday evening.

Deirdre Newman For the last two years, the Findlay family of five has been living in one room at their relatives' house. Soon, they will move into a brand new, two-story, Westside house that they helped build. Their excitement on Thursday was palpable as their house and five other homes that Habitat for Humanity built on Pomona Street were dedicated. The organization builds homes for low-income families and usually requires the recipients to work on the construction.

Alicia Robinson A county project to dredge sediment and clear vegetation from San Diego Creek will be cut short when permits expire at midnight tonight. Work, which is mostly finished, will be halted today because of a requirement that work be stopped if endangered birds are sighted in the area. The estimated $3.3-million, 2.5-mile creek clearing project began in December. Orange County supervisors declared an emergency after county officials told them the overgrown creek could flood into the Irvine Ranch Water District's Michelson Water Reclamation Plant and send raw sewage into the Upper Newport Bay. "The work is effectively done, or we have completed as much as we can, mainly because of bird sightings," said county Public Works Director Herb Nakasone.

Alicia Robinson Orange County crews will have to stop dredging sediment from San Diego Creek on Monday unless the Army Corps of Engineers grants an extension of the county's permit for the work. Workers on March 5 resumed a $3.3-million creek clearing project that began in December after county officials said the creek was overgrown and full of sediment, creating a risk of flooding. If the creek flooded, officials warned, it could send raw sewage from a nearby treatment plant into the Upper Newport Bay. Late last month, the Army Corps of Engineers and California Coastal Commission granted the county emergency permits to continue clearing vegetation and sediment.

Costa Mesa should welcome new residents The logic applied by Martin Millard, Mike Berry and Councilman Allan Mansoor to the housing selection process by Habitat for Humanity of Orange County disturbs me greatly. Where do my fellow Costa Mesa residents draw the line? Would they even have allowed me to purchase my Costa Mesa home? After all, I was raised in neighboring Fountain Valley. Millard, am I therefore one of the "social problems" that has been dumped upon Costa Mesa by virtue of my city of origin, or am I acceptable to you because I was above the Orange County poverty line when I moved here?

Deirdre Newman Some residents say they want the city to stop providing land at a cheap price to Habitat for Humanity unless Costa Mesa residents are selected to move into the houses. Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit Christian housing ministry that builds and sells affordable houses and loans money for the mortgages to low-income families. The main criteria, which varies with family size, is that qualifying families can only earn between 25% to 50% of the Orange County median income.

Alicia Robinson With the help of many hands that laid a cornerstone, Mark Findlay and his wife, Caroline, will soon reach a personal milestone. The Findlays will become homeowners and residents of Costa Mesa when they move with their three daughters into a new home, the 100th house built by the Orange County chapter of Habitat For Humanity. On Tuesday, Habitat For Humanity volunteers and members of Girl Scout Troop 1734 were among a crowd of about 150 celebrating the construction of the Pomona Street home, which is also notable as the 1,000th home built in California by a Habitat chapter.