ATTACHMENT 2
Resolution No. 2026-51 Page 1 of 9
RESOLUTION NO. 2026-xx
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA,
CALIFORNIA, CERTIFYING THE FINAL PROGRAM ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
REPORT, ADOPTING FINDINGS OF FACT AND STATEMENT OF OVERRIDING
CONSIDERATIONS AND MITIGATION MONITORING AND REPORTING PROGRAM
FOR THE NEIGHBORHOODS WHERE WE ALL BELONG ZONING UPDATES AND
HOUSING ELEMENT IMPLEMENTATION
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA HEREBY FINDS AND DECLARES AS FOLLOWS:
WHEREAS, the City’s Sixth Cycle (2021-2029) Housing Element was adopted by the Costa Mesa City Council on February 1, 2022, by Resolution No. 2022-06 and amendments adopted on November 15, 2022, by Resolution No. 2022-67, and was revised March 1, 2023, to incorporate non-substantive changes as directed by the City Council, and amended on March 17, 2026, by Resolution No. 2026-07 to remove 17 Housing Element Opportunity Sites and add two sites—both within the boundary of Measure K—to the Housing Element Candidates Sites Analysis at the request of the respective property owners, and most recently amended on September 1, 2026, by adopting Resolution No. 2026-38 to maintain adequate sites capacity and comply with State Housing Law; and
WHEREAS, the implementation of Measure K rezoning and City of Costa Mesa Sixth Cycle (2021-2029) Housing Element Programs require amendments to the Zoning Code, Newport Boulevard, North Costa Mesa, and One Metro West Specific Plans, and the Land Use, Circulation, Community Design, Housing, Noise, and Open Space and Recreation Elements of the General Plan to for consistency; and WHEREAS, in November 2022, the Costa Mesa community voted in support of Measure K, which enacted Costa Mesa Municipal Code (CMMC) section 13-200.106(g) and exempted requirement for future voter initiatives for specific parcels; and WHEREAS, the application of the Mixed-Use Overlay District to Measure K sites would implement Housing Element Program 3G; and
WHEREAS, on October 22, 2024, the City released the solicitation of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the NWWAB effort was released via PlanetBids, the City’s webbased procurement system, where five proposals were received and evaluated by City Resolution No. 2026-xx Page 2 of 9
staff based on the selection criteria identified in the RFP, and of the five proposals, Dudek was selected as the qualified consultant to complete the NWWAB scope of work including the preparation of documentation compliant with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); and
WHEREAS, on February 18, 2025, the City Council approved an agreement between the City and Dudek pursuant to the RFP; and
WHEREAS, the NWWAB project was prepared following Housing Element Program 3G, Measure K, and City Council direction all calling for the effort to engage the community in the visioning and planning process; and WHEREAS, July through October 2025, the first round of community visioning was conducted, which included a communitywide open house and three separate workshops at locations throughout the community, one including a walking tour and another including a design charette, an online survey, three focus group discussions with local stakeholders, as well as a dozen pop-up outreach activities at City events, local businesses, local organizations, and the preparation of a community visioning summary; and
WHEREAS, March through April 2026, the second round of community visioning took place and included two in-person workshops, one virtual workshop, and two focus group discussions with local stakeholders, and the preparation of a community visioning summary; and
WHEREAS, May through August 2026, the third round of community visioning took place and included a communitywide open house, two focus group discussions with local stakeholders; and several public review comment periods (Zoning Code, Specific Plan, and General Plan updates, two comment periods specific to the Housing Element, and one specific to the Draft Program Environmental Impact Report), the preparation of a community visioning summary, and separate responses to comments on the Draft Program Environmental Impact Report; and
WHEREAS, the community open houses, workshops, survey, and pop-up events were advertised through various means, including social media posts, postcard mailers to over 44,000 residential units (three times), email notifications to interested parties, flyer distribution, City Hall Snapshot articles emailed to approximately 10,000 email Resolution No. 2026-xx Page 3 of 9
addresses, and A-frame signs placed outside of City facilities, announcements made at Planning Commission and City Council meetings, and newspaper advertisements; and WHEREAS, on November 17, 2025, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) a notice of preparation (NOP) was issued and submitted to the State Clearinghouse where the NWWAB was assigned project number SCH No. 2025110783; and
WHEREAS, the City of Costa Mesa determined that a PEIR would be necessary to study the potential environmental impacts of the application of the MUOD to nonHousing Element Measure K sites, and the City chose to evaluate the application of the MUOD to both non-Housing Element Measure K sites and Housing Element sites in an effort to better understand the cumulative impacts, for transparency to the public, and for disclosure and mitigation; and
WHEREAS, the NOP started the CEQA environmental review process by notifying agencies, organizations, tribes, and interested parties about the City’s plans that an initial study had been prepared which identified that Environmental Impacts are anticipated with the project and that a Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) is being prepared, and that the written public comment period began November 17, 2025, through December 19, 2025; and
WHEREAS, on December 8, 2025, the Planning Commission held a study session relating to the rezoning of Housing Element sites, including recent court actions relating to overlay districts used for Housing Element sites and the SB 131 CEQA exemption; and
WHEREAS, on December 10, 2025, a public scoping meeting was held at City Hall to solicit comments and suggestions regarding the scope and content of the PEIR and environmental issues and alternatives to be considered in the PEIR; and WHEREAS, on January 26, 2026, the Planning Commission held a study session relating to the bifurcation of the Measure K rezoning efforts and Housing Element sites rezoning, and on February 9, 2026, the Planning Commissions held a duly noticed public hearing and recommended to City Council that the Measure K and Housing Element sites rezoning efforts be bifurcated and the PEIR would analyze Measure K Resolution No. 2026-xx Page 4 of 9
and Housing Element sites (except for the Fairview Developmental Center Specific Plan site); and
WHERAS, in May 2026, the City of Costa Mesa mailed a post card to over 44,000 residential addresses within the City Limits announcing that the Draft PEIR would be available for public review June 16, 2026 through August 3, 2026; and WHEREAS, on June 13, 2026, a notice of availability the Draft PEIR was published in a newspaper of general circulation which included a 49-day public review period that occurred from June 16, 2026, through August 3, 2026, and the PEIR were made available for public review pursuant to the requirements of the CEQA Guidelines; and
WHEREAS, on June 16, 2026, the PEIR was uploaded to the City’s environmental notices webpage, provided to the County Clerk-recorder’s Office for posting, and submitted and uploaded to the State Clearinghouse (State Clearinghouse No. 2025110783); and
WHEREAS, on July 16, 2026, the Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) held a duly noticed public hearing and determined that the NWWAB effort was inconsistent with the Airport Environs Land Use Plan for John Wayne Airport; and WHEREAS, on August 17, 2026, the Planning Commission held a study session to review the draft Zoning Code amendments, objective design standards, Specific Plan amendments, and General Plan amendments, and after public comment, the Planning Commission received and filed the report and provided feedback on the draft documents; and
WHEREAS, on September 1, 2026, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing and voted 7-0 to initiate the process to overrule the ALUC determination; and WHEREAS, the City of Costa Mesa notified the Orange County Airport Land Use Commission and Caltrans Division of Aeronautics of the City Council’s intent to overrule ALUC on September 2, 2026 by a letter with Resolution 2026-39 with findings in support of the City’s intent to overrule attached, sent via certified mail and electronic mail; and WHEREAS, on September 14, 2026, the Planning Commission conducted a duly noticed public hearing to discuss and consider the NWWAB project, with all persons having the opportunity to speak for and against the proposal and voted 4-3 to continue Resolution No. 2026-xx Page 5 of 9
the item to a date certain to provide more time to review the drafts and potential revisions; and
WHEREAS, on September 28, 2026, the Planning Commission conducted a duly noticed public hearing to discuss and consider the NWWAB project, with all persons having the opportunity to speak for and against the proposal and voted 3-1, with three commissioners absent, to recommend that the City Council certify the Final PEIR, adopt the findings of fact and statement of overriding considerations, and the mitigation monitoring and reporting program; and
WHEREAS, on October 20, 2026, the City Council conducted a duly noticed public hearing to discuss and consider the NWWAB project, with all persons having the opportunity to speak for and against the proposal; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has duly considered the totality of the record and all evidence submitted into the record, including public testimony and the evaluation and recommendations by staff and Planning Commission, presented at said hearings; and WHEREAS, notices of said public hearings were made at the time and in the manner required by law; and
WHEREAS, the CEQA Final PEIR for NWWAB reflects the independent judgement of the City of Costa Mesa.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA HEREBY RESOLVES as follows:
BE IT RESOLVED that based on the evidence in the record and the findings contained in Exhibit A, the City Council hereby certifies the Final EIR prepared for the project pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15090, adopt findings of fact pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15091, adopt statement of overriding considerations pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15093, and adopt the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Costa Mesa City Council does hereby find and determine that adoption of this Resolution is expressly predicated upon the activity as described in the staff report and compliance with all applicable federal, State, and local laws. Any approval granted by this resolution shall be subject to review, Resolution No. 2026-xx Page 6 of 9
modification, or revocation if there is a material change that occurs in the operation, or if the applicant fails to comply with any of the conditions of approval.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if any section, division, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this resolution, or the document in the record in support of this resolution, are for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 20th day of October, 2026.
_____________________________
John Stephens, Mayor
ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
________________________ _____________________________
Brenda Green, City Clerk Kimberly Hall Barlow, City Attorney
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss
CITY OF COSTA MESA )
I, BRENDA GREEN, City Clerk of the City of Costa Mesa, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the above and foregoing is the original of Resolution No. 2026-xx and was duly passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Costa Mesa at a regular meeting held on the 20th day of October, 2026, by the following roll call vote, to wit:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
Resolution No. 2026-xx Page 7 of 9
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereby set my hand and affixed the seal of the City of Costa Mesa this xxth day of October, 2026.
___________________________
Brenda Green, City Clerk
Resolution No. 2026-xx Page 8 of 9
Exhibit A
Neighborhoods Where We All Belong Zoning Updates and Housing Element Implementation Environmental Impact Report Files - State Clearinghouse No. 2025110783
Click on the “Links” below to access the document.
Final Program Environmental Impact Report (Final PEIR), includes Appendices and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP) - Link Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations - Link Draft PEIR – Vol. I - Link
Draft PEIR – Vol. II - Link
Draft PEIR – Vol. III - Link
Draft PEIR – Vol. IV - Link
Draft PEIR – Vol. V – Link
Draft PEIR – Vol. VI – Link
Draft PEIR – Vol. VII – Link
Draft PEIR – Vol. VIII – Link
Appendix A-1: Notice or Preparation (NOP) and Initial Study - Link Appendix A-2: NOP Comment Letters - Link
Appendix A-3: Scoping Meeting Comments - Link
Appendix B: Buildout Methodology – Link
Appendix C: Land Evaluation and Site Assessment Report - Link Appendix D: Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Modeling and Energy Calculations - Link
Appendix E: CNDDB List, CNPS Inventory, and IPaC Records - Link Appendix F-2: NAHC SLF Search Results - Link
Appendix F-3: Archaeological Resources Sensitivity Map - Link Appendix F-4: Historic-Age Properties within the Preferred Alternative - Link Appendix H: Noise Technical Data - Link
Appendix I: Public Services Correspondence - Link
Appendix J: OCTAM Land Use Modeling Inputs - Link
Appendix K-1: NAHC Sacred Land Files Results and AB 52 and SB 18 Notification Letters - Link
Resolution No. 2026-xx Page 9 of 9
Appendix L – Vol. I: Utility Services Correspondence - Link Appendix L – Vol. II: Utility Services Correspondence - Link