Costa Mesa city councilors voted unanimously Oct. 4 for a request for proposals of $3.5 million in state funds, which will be spent in planning for the redevelopment of a former mental hospital into residential and commercial properties.
Located just south of Harbor Boulevard and Adams Avenue, the 100-acre property was formerly the city’s Fairview Developmental Center, a facility that opened in 1959 for people with developmental or intellectual disabilities, but was closed in 2015 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown.
“This is an opportunity to some extent, to create the most walkable bikeable planned community that we possibly could,” Mayor Pro Tem Andrea Marr said during the council meeting.
According to the city’s most recent housing plan, the site can accommodate about 2,300 residential units, which city officials said is an opportunity for both permanent supportive housing for the homeless as well as workforce housing.
If the state approves the city’s plan, they would enter a three-year agreement in which the city staff would regularly report its expenditures and any environmental impacts of the project.
The drafted agreement also specifies a priority in housing for former residents who are developmentally disabled, by offering lower rent for qualifying applicants.
Marr suggested commercial properties should be part of the land’s usage to avoid traffic build-up with the few entry and exit points the property has.
“There’s so little entry and exit into Fairview Developmental Center ... we can have some commercial properties on-site such that we’re not creating artificial traffic,” she said.
Councilman Manuel Chavez had some questions about how the community would be involved in the planning process.
“A lot of residents have been concerned about lack of community input recently,” he said during the meeting.
The city manager told councilors that the first step would be acquiring an expert consultant to help mitigate some of the land use planning. Next, city staff would work together to initiate community outreach and engagement.
Chavez said he is excited to get the project started.
“My entire lifetime that property has been vacant, or not utilized very much ... it is one of the last few places we can really build a walkable bikeable part of town,” he said.
Mayor John Stephens suggested a focus group also be added to the city’s proposal to the state. He said a controlled environment where residents can freely express themselves could be more effective in receiving residents’ input.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it’s a site that there’s nothing like in the city of Costa Mesa,” he said.
