GENERAL PLAN CHANGES & HOW THEY WILL AFFECT YOU
Pardon our mess, but this page is under construction.
What does 40 to 50 dwelling units per acre (40-50 du/ac) look like? Well, not much if you are a bird flying overhead like the map of the Newport Boulevard Residential Overlay. The areas impacted are outlined in white dashes. Below is an illustration of what the corner of Newport Boulevard and 19th Street might look like if a four to five story building with a six level parking structure is built there.
Here is the SoBECA Overlay where a developer could build 40-50 du/ac. What you don't see is the 57.7 du/ac apartments at
125 Baker Street that is just off the map. That project is being built now. The parking structure is nearly topped out and floor two of five floors is being framed. A modest rendering of what it might end up looking like is below. What will the traffic on Baker Street be like at rush hour?
And here is the Harbor Boulevard Overlay with pockets of 40 du/ac. This is what is commonly called "spot zoning", which is the process of singling out a small parcel of land for a use classification totally different from that of the surrounding area for the benefit of the owner of such property and to the detriment of other owners. Please note the property currently occupied by the Costa Mesa Motor Inn is approved to be 54 du/ac. See the illustration below for what that project may look like.
In addition to the impacts of traffic, privacy, shadows on adjacent properties, and overuse of parks, the additional population will cost the city about $3,000 per year per acre over what it will receive in revenue to provide services to these high-density apartments, so they are also economic losers.
This is the Harbor Boulevard Mixed-Use Overlay. Mixed-use development combines residential and commercial. Developers will be allowed to build 20 du/ac, but with an increase of in commercial density, and a maximum height of four stories. Some of these properties are problem motels, but most are functioning businesses that serve residents and other businesses.