Businessman wants to build archway to promote new arts district

Are there enough arts within the City of the Arts for a second arts district?

One Westside Costa Mesa businessman thinks so.

John Morehart, who owns commercial properties near the 1600 block of Superior Avenue, is seeking permission from City Hall to build an archway that will help identify and promote the area as the “Mesa Arts” district. He’s proposing the archway to traverse over Commercial Way, about 15 feet from where the private street intersects with Superior Avenue.

Costa Mesa officials noted that Morehart’s plans to create a new district are not sanctioned by the city, and that all portions of the archway would be located on his property. Costa Mesa’s established arts area is officially called the Theater and Arts District; it includes the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and South Coast Repertory.

As it’s designed now, the sign would be 25 feet high and read “Mesa Arts.” Conceptual drawings were not publicly available.

Though common in other cities, the archway would be the first of its kind over any Costa Mesa street.

Principal Planner/Zoning Administrator Willa Bouwens-Killeen said the city has some initial concerns about the plans, like if the sign has enough clearance for fire trucks. It would also displace a parking space, Bouwens-Killeen said, and require landscaping around its supportive structures on both ends of Commercial Way.

A final decision is scheduled for April 23, Bouwens-Killeen said.

In recent months, about 10 businesses along Superior’s 1600 block have banded together in a new community they’re dubbing Style on Superior. They say it’s their slice of “Costa Mesa cool” in a neighborhood once known for oil changes and boatyards.

Becoming Mesa Arts, even unofficially, would be one part of a vibrant Westside, said Keariene Muizz, an artist, community coordinator and Style on Superior’s organizer.

“Costa Mesa is the up-and-coming, hip community,” Muizz said. “I think it’s a ripe time for this sign to go up. There’s a lot of optimism here.”

The owners of Gil’s Catamaran and Trimaran on nearby East 16th Street, are against the sign and some of the changes they’ve been seeing. In an April 7 letter to the City Council, Wayne and Suzi Iwamoto were critical that Morehart was “[being] allowed to reshape the Westside industrial area into his own vision.”

The Iwamotos said as Morehart implements his plans, the other businesses have to deal with parking problems and jaywalking patrons along Superior as a result.

Muizz said Style on Superior’s businesses love the archway concepts, and are excited about the residential developments being built nearby, such as Superior Pointe, a 49-unit tract at the corner of West 17th Street and Superior.

“There is a lot of life being pumped into this area right now,” she said. “You put a welcome mat on the door. Why not put an archway?”