From: Priscilla Rocco
To: CITY CLERK
Subject: Measure K and Development
Date: Monday, September 19, 2022 4:18:36 PM
City Council,
If you are an avid viewer of HGTV, you soon realize that even with blueprints, contracts, good communications, and oversight, builders can't be trusted. Never would you see a home owner forgo the paperwork and give a blank check to a builder. But that is exactly what you are asking the residents of Costa Mesa to do with Measure K. I expected better governance from you all. Not this slap dash bit of fluff.
Yes, we all want affordable housing, tree-lined streets, protected bike lanes, and parks but there are no plans, codes, ordinances, or rules of any kind in Measure K to ensure these things will be done. All we have are your promises and threats. That without Measure K, we will be out of compliance with the State. But Chyntia McDonald and others who were responsible for Measure Y have shown you that is not true.
If past is prolog, residents will be asked to participate in city planning, only to have their wishes ignored. The planning commission will listen to the residents, and then give the builders anything they want. Evidence the prison blocks across from Trader Joe's, the 5-story monolith that is the Baker Block, the toadstools on the alley at the end of Ford Road, and the stack-a-shacks everywhere around town. When you futher loosen or eliminate the building codes, it will be cheaper, faster, no quality or esthetics required.
And as for equity, it won't be part of Costa Mesa's new chapter without an inclusionary housing ordinance, which has been promised by the end of the year. Arlis Reynolds, Andrea Marr, and John Stephens have told me that builders will not be exempt from the ordinance if it is delayed, and I'm going to hold them to that. For without that ordinance, luxury apartments and homes will have large trees, green space, and amenities, and the working poor will be sequestered in areas with hot asphalt and concrete tennements. They will have no green space, trees, or parks, as that money will instead be funneled into existing parks in fancy neighborhoods.
The past administration was so odious that I canvassed and worked for months to help get three of you into office. I believed that you would listen to and respect the wishes of the residents. But promises are not enough when it's possible some of you will no longer be on the dias after November 8th. Promises are not good business, nor good government, unless they are backed up by law. You are codifying what is required by the State, please keep faith with the residents by codifying their needs. All we have ever asked for is a say in development, so our homes, neighborhoods, and our city continue to be pleasant places to live.
Thank you,
Priscilla Rocco
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