City Council to look at mobile home park conversion
The Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday night is scheduled to consider a plan that would close a Newport Boulevard mobile home park in order to make room for condominiums.
Should the council adopt the resolution, IntraCorp Socal-1 LLC — the proposed new owner of Anchor Trailer Port at 1527 Newport Blvd. — will begin implementing a report that both evaluates adverse impacts of the park’s closure and potentially mitigates problems arising from it. The closure impact report, as it’s officially called, also describes relocation options for the park’s residents.
According to a Dec. 28 city staff report, the 1.9-acre park was developed in the late 1940s and has 43 spaces that house either an RV, travel trailer or mobile home. Twenty spaces have a resident-owned home, nine have a park-owned home and one is occupied by the on-site manager. The 13 remaining spaces are vacant.
There is also an office building, laundry facility, restrooms and electrical building on the site.
IntraCorp gave Anchor Trailer Port residents a year’s notice of its intention to close the park by Aug. 24, 2013, and begin converting the area to have 40 condos.
At various times last year, IntraCorp representatives met with Anchor Trailer Port residents, both individually and in groups, according to city staff.
On Jan. 14, the Planning Commission is also scheduled to consider the site’s new land use.
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Ford Road parking
After the city received a resident petition following an impromptu August 2012 neighborhood meeting, the council is set to approve a resident-only parking restriction for a portion of Ford Road.
Residents of the byway just north of The Triangle that spans Harbor and Newport boulevards had complained of burglary, drug use, vandalism and other crimes on their street. They also said they had no parking for themselves because the spaces were consistently occupied by intrusive vehicles, according to a city staff report.
To address their concerns, city transportation staff conducted a license plate survey and found that during congested periods, nonresidents used more than 50% of the available parking.
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Fairview Park boardwalk
City staff are also recommending that the council provide further direction on Fairview Park’s restoration project.
The Westside park’s Wetlands & Riparian Habitat Project was recently completed, according to a city staff report, and adding a boardwalk there would make the revamped area more accessible to visitors.
The proposed $1-million boardwalk would be about 1,300 linear feet. Its “alignment, design and construction will be carefully selected to highlight the different habitats and features while at the same time minimize the impact to the existing restored habitat,” according to city officials.
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Security cameras
The city is also looking to upgrade City Hall’s security camera system and add one for Lions Park.
The eight cameras and digital recorder at City Hall are 6 years old, cover only parts of the first-floor lobby and hallways, and are “far behind in current surveillance system technology,” officials say.
They are proposing adding cameras on all of City Hall’s floors and portions of the parking lot. The cameras would also have additional capabilities that the current ones do not.
A surveillance system for Lions Park — long known as a haven for the city’s homeless — would help park rangers make the 10-acre facility off West 18th Street more of a “family-friendly venue,” city officials say.
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Recognitions
Two maintenance workers who rescued two women from a Costa Mesa apartment fire are set to be recognized during the meeting.
Arturo Hernandez and Gerald Rodriguez, who work at the South Pointe complex at 655 W. Baker St., helped the women to safety during the Dec. 9 incident. No injuries were reported, but a preliminary estimate said damages are between $150,000 to $200,000.
The coaches and players from Estancia High School’s football team will also be recognized for winning last year’s annual Battle of the Bell tournament.
The 6 p.m. regular City Council meeting at City Hall, 77 Fair Drive, will be preceded at 5 p.m. with public comments about the closed session. After the comments, the hour-long closed session, which is not public, is expected to involve a conference between city CEO Tom Hatch and labor negotiators from the police and city employee unions.
Twitter: @bradleyzint
