To those unfamiliar with how land use regulation works in California, it may not seem that adopting a General Plan amendment would provide enough protection and that a Specific Plan or Zoning specification needs to be sent to the ballot box instead. In California, the General Plan for the city determines how Specific Plans and Zoning function within the area. All Specific Plans and Zoning decisions must conform to the General Plan. For instance, when a property is sold and the use of the property is changed outside what is specified in the General Plan (say from single family to educational use), a zoning adjustment followed by a General Plan amendment usually occurs.
To protect the Fairgrounds, the definition of the property will be modified to call out specific desired land uses (fairs, exhibitions, agricultural exhibits could be several uses called out.) Additionally, the floor area ratio (FAR) of 0.10 will be specified. The combination of these elements will better describe what activities can take place on the property and limit the build-out. The objective is to send the General Plan amendment to the voters as a way of locking in the zoning to prevent future unwanted development.
Sending a Specific Plan to the ballot box can be problematic because a Specific Plan often contains a high level of detail, which can include landscaping, placement of utilities, parking lot layouts, among other items. The concern expressed by staff about adopting a Specific Plan is that the zoning would be too locked down - even a change in landscaping or moving a restroom or upgrading an exhibit hall could trigger another vote by Costa Mesa residents.
To better understand the differences and interrelationships among the General Plan, Zoning, and Specific Plan, see the Costa Mesa planning site.
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