Growth is chief concern
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Deirdre Newman
NEWPORT-MESA -- Former Costa Mesa Mayor Sandy Genis is used to hearing
the constant hum of traffic. To cope, she compares it to something
positive.
“I always tell myself it’s just like living near a river,” Genis said.
So she was not surprised at the results of a recent Orange County
survey that showed the most significant concerns of residents are
growth-related issues -- even surpassing crime and education.
This is the 20th year of the survey, published by the Public Policy
Institute of California and conducted by a former UC Irvine professor. It
found that 21% of Orange County residents cite the combination of
population growth and development as the number one problem. The El Toro
Airport was the second growth-related concern followed by housing issues
and transportation. The results are based on a telephone survey of 2,004
Orange County adult residents interviewed from Aug. 20 to Aug. 31.
The survey’s results are significant because they reflect what is
already evident to many residents -- that a jobs/housing imbalance and
traffic tie-ups are inevitable byproducts of unchecked growth.
Costa Mesa already has an imbalance of 2,000 more jobs than resident
workers, according to Genis. Yet she is opposed to the idea of a freeway
from Riverside County to Orange County that would help correct that
imbalance since it would run smack through the Cleveland National Forest.
Genis is also opposed to the controversial Home Ranch project, which
was just approved by the Planning Commission, for a site on a former lima
bean farm off the San Diego freeway. The mixed-use project includes
industrial, residential and commercial projects including a 308,000
square-foot Ikea furniture store.
Genis said the project will generate twice as much traffic as the
city’s 1990 general plan allows for the site.
In Newport Beach, Mayor Gary Adams was likewise not surprised by the
survey’s results. He sees the growth concerns as affirmation of the
Greenlight initiative that residents passed last year to have some
oversight on development.
The Greenlight measure requires residents to vote on development above
the general plan entitlement. The Cole office project will be the first
issue to go to voters in November.
Adams said Newport Beach is virtually built out in terms of housing.
He expects the review of an upcoming housing project to provoke
controversy because of anti-growth sentiment.
“People don’t care about housing in Newport Beach. They don’t want
anything to change,” Adams said.
The survey also found that 65% of Orange County residents believe that
population increases will make the county a less desirable place to live
in the future with high housing costs and traffic congestion as top
concerns.
Yet there is still a high percentage of residents that are satisfied
with the quality of life in Orange County -- 67% say they are very
satisfied with their housing situation, an 11-point increase over 10
years ago.
For Genis, however, satisfaction will come when certain cities find
some equilibrium between jobs and housing.
“If we took Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Irvine and El Toro and got
their jobs and housing in balance, we wouldn’t even be talking about new
connections to Riverside County. Just these four cities are really bad
and it bothers me because my city is a big part of the problem,” Genis
said.
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