Vote McEvoy

On January 8th, 2010 the State of California will have closed biding on the Orange County Fairgrounds and Expo Center. The highest bid on January 8th will be the opening bid for the auction held January 14th, whom ever has the highest bid that day will own the Fairgrounds.

Currently the City of Costa Mesa is pushing for the sale to be stopped and at the same the City is also doing a good job in preparing for a very likely future .
• The City is moving ahead in preparing a ballot initiative that will lock in the Fairgrounds current uses through the General Plan. This is good because the City is making it clear to potential buyers that there is only one use for this land, its current use. This initiative may have lowered the value of the Fairgrounds because this greatly limits the profit possibility and would make this a bad deal for the state.
• The City and County of Orange are going to bid on the Fairgrounds together. There is no guarantee they will be the highest bidder but at the same time it could happen.

The Governor can call off the sale at anytime. This is where we all come in. The Mayor of Costa Mesa encourages us to write, call, email
(start here http://gov.ca.gov/interact), fax, just contact the Governor and ask him to stop the sale. You will find all of the Governor’s contact information below. I also posted the contact information for California’s First Lady (Governor’s Wife)

Governor’s Office:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160 (new number )

District Offices:

Fresno Office
2550 Mariposa Mall #3013
Fresno, CA 93721
Phone: 559-477-1804
Fax: 559-445-5328

Los Angeles Office
300 South Spring Street
Suite 16701
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Phone: 213-897-0322
Fax: 213-897-0319

Riverside Office
3737 Main Street #201
Riverside, CA 92501
Phone: 951-680-6860
Fax: 951-680-6863

San Diego Office
1350 Front Street
Suite 6054
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619-525-4641
Fax: 619-525-4640

San Francisco Office
455 Golden Gate Avenue
Suite 14000
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: 415-703-2218
Fax: 415-703-2803

Washington D.C. Office
134 Hall of the States
444 North Capitol Street NW
Washington D.C. 20001
Phone: 202-624-5270
Fax: 202-624-5280

Here is the contact information for the Governors Wife.

First Lady Maria Shriver
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-2841
Fax: (916) 558-3160

On Monday June 8th the Costa Mesa Planning Commission will most likely amend the overlay zone. What this means is that they are going to ease up on the building restrictions in that area of town.

Brief History

The overlay zone affects property owners in Costa Mesa’s Westside industrial area. The ultimate goal of the overlay zone is to eliminate the industrial use of properties and replace them with residential and/or retail buildings. The overlay zone was implemented as a way for the city to “revitalize” the Westside.

To date there has only been 2 projects approved under this overlay and this leads us to the amendment to the overlay zone. The Planning Commission wants to see more development in the overlay zone.  To get more development the Planning Commission is going to create a loophole in the overlay zone.

Here is how. Currently the overlay zone allows the development of mixed use buildings. Mixed use buildings are part retail (i.e. stores) and part residential (apartments). To promote development the Planning Commission is considering removing the workspace requirements, thus making the building purely residential and avoiding current residential density requirements by building under the mixed use title. Also these buildings are allowed to be 4 stories, 60 feet in height with 90% lot coverage. This will create high-density.

Why this matters

Primarily this will create high-density residential community. High-density will negatively effect our quality of life.

This amendment benefits the developers and not the residents of our city. The overlay zone is in place as a way to revitalize our city however if high-density buildings are approved, future problems in the Westside will need to be corrected.

This negative future can easily be avoided.

What can be done

At the very least take a couple of minutes write down your thoughts and email the planning commission at

PlanningCommission@ci.costa-mesa.ca.us

Even better come down to city hall Monday June 8th at 6:30pm in the council chambers and share your opinion(s).

McEvoy Discussing new Methods to generate revenue for the City

Check out the Orange County Register’s article about the most recent Costa Mesa City Council Candidate Forum.  http://www.ocregister.com/articles/candidates-city-mesa-2203912-ranch-banning

As a City Council member I will base all decisions on the following two responsibilities.

1.  How does it benefit/affect the citizens of Costa Mesa for the long term

2.  Is it possible to fit within the budget

I LOVE this city.  I want to protect what we have here.  Our City has many resources such as an industrial area, many business centers and markets, and a diverse population.  As a long time citizen of Costa Mesa I have seen some changes which only benefit a few and I will avoid those and work to provide for the greater good.

Please email me.  I would love to hear from you.

VoteMcEvoy@yahoo.com

p.s. I will work for the citizens of Costa Mesa and not the special interests.

     I am excited to announce that Christopher McEvoy has declared his candidacy for Costa Mesa City Council.  I have created this site as a way for the people of Costa Mesa to get to know Chris and where he stands on the issues most concerning Costa Mesa residents.  Click the link for the Daily Pilot’s article on Chris!

http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2008/08/15/topstory/dpt-mcevoy08152008.txt