Traffic, airport noise and sober-living homes among issues raised during Costa Mesa ‘listening tour’

When asked to identify issues facing their neighborhood, it wasn’t hard for residents of Costa Mesa’s Eastside to find common ground during a community forum Wednesday night.

Virtually all of the roughly 70 people who attended the “listening tour” event presented by Mayor Katrina Foley and Mayor Pro Tem Sandy Genis cited concerns with traffic, development, local homelessness or sober-living homes.

Foley said she thought the event — co-sponsored by the Eastside Costa Mesa Neighbors’ Group and held at Kaiser Elementary School — was “a really good way for us to hear from the residents directly without them having to come to a City Council meeting.”

“Our top priorities are what are important to these residents,” she said. “We’ll just keep chipping away at them.”

The two council members spent most of the event taking in residents’ comments rather than engaging in discussion.

“It’s good to hear about specific areas in need of improvement,” Genis said.

Some residents urged the city to take a more active role in dealing with airplane noise from John Wayne Airport, which they said has become increasingly bothersome in the Eastside lately.

Residents in areas of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach have lodged similar complaints in recent months as the Federal Aviation Administration has implemented flight path alterations for Southern California airports, including John Wayne.

Other people said a larger law enforcement presence is needed in the Eastside to curtail recent upticks in crime and tamp down on cars speeding on residential streets.

Genis said she thinks the city’s ongoing effort to build the ranks of its Police Department will help address public safety concerns.

Many of those at Wednesday’s meeting said more needs to be done to address problems associated with sober-living homes, which generally house recovering alcoholics and drug addicts.

Over the years, critics have said the homes can contribute to increased problems with crime, noise, parking and traffic and potentially lower neighborhood property values.

Foley pointed out that Costa Mesa has several regulations related to such facilities, including a requirement that they be at least 650 feet from one another in residential areas. But she said there are limits to what the city can do legally.

Recovering addicts are considered disabled under state and federal law.

Foley and Genis repeatedly emphasized the need for residents to report problems to police or code enforcement officers so the city can respond appropriately.

The two said they plan to take their “listening tour” to other Costa Mesa neighborhoods, though no other events have been scheduled yet.

luke.money@latimes.com

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