A carefully crafted ballot initiative can go a long way towards protecting the zoning and use of a particular piece of property. To offer solid protection against a new Costa Mesa City Council who wants to make a major change in land use, the measure must outline allowable uses for the property (without being so tight that even minor changes require voter approval), adequately define what the allowable uses are (having dealt with several poorly worded ordinances that ended up being not enforceable as promised, this can be a challenge), and be voter friendly. Do this, and you can keep something just as it is.
This is what Costa Mesa hopes to achieve with a 5-0 vote to move forward on a ballot measure to lock in zoning and use of the Fairgrounds as a fairgrounds. In a few months, unless the sale is derailed, Costa Mesa will have a 150 acre piece of prime real estate to manage the zoning on. The ballot initiative vote, along with the direction given to staff to create a Specific Plan, gives notice to potential buyers that the Costa Mesa desires the use to remain a fairgrounds. Costa Mesa needs to build up tools to use to protect against massive development if the property is ever sold.
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