The City’s prior approval of a 224-unit apartment complex was dealt a legal setback Thursday after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled the development didn’t conform with the State density bonus law.

In the case Kennedy Commission v. City of Costa Mesa, the Court reversed the City Council resolutions and ordinances that approved the apartment project, which would allow Miracle Mile Properties to redevelop the now-closed Costa Mesa Motor Inn on Harbor Boulevard.

The Court fully rejected the Kennedy Commission’s claim that the City engaged in housing discrimination.

However, the allegation by the Kennedy Commission that the City was responsible for relocation payments to previous occupants of the motel was transferred by the Court to another judge for resolution.

The City and its legal counsel are evaluating the options to resolve this matter.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is closing Red Hill Avenue from Main Street to Pullman Avenue to replace bridge joint seals, as part of an ongoing construction project beginning 9 p.m. Friday, May 12, 2017 through 10 a.m. Saturday, May 13, 2017.

This closure is part of a $9 million Embankment Stabilization project in the cities of Irvine and Costa Mesa.

Changeable Message Signs will be used to alert motorists. Travel delays may occur and motorist are advised to avoid the area, use alternate routes, and check traffic conditions before their commute.

Once complete in early 2018, the project will reinforce the underlying soil embankment, as well as construct new retaining walls to provide a safe enhancement to the local arterial surface street system.

For real time freeway traffic information, please visit the Caltrans Quickmap www.quickmap.dot.ca.gov or the Caltrans District 12 Website at www.dot.ca.gov/dist12/Red_Hill.

The Public Services Department recently completed a two-inch grind of the roadway pavement on Adams Avenue from Fairview Road to Peterson Place and overlaid a new rubberized asphalt pavement.

Grinding and the construction of 3,400 tons of asphalt rubberized hot mix to create a new two-inch surface layer was completed late April.

Work was coordinated with the Orange Coast College Programs, Swap Meet, local temporary Fire Station, adjacent residents’ and businesses. Prior to this work, CJ Concrete Construction was contracted to remove and replace damaged curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and wheelchair ramps along this segment of Adams Ave.

Final construction activities including utility adjustments, lane and traffic legend striping, and traffic loop detectors were completed last week.

As many as 35,000 people, including participants, spectators and volunteers, will be out in force for the 13th annual U.S. Bank OC Marathon. The full and half marathons will take place in the morning on Sunday, May 7, necessitating temporary closures of several main Orange County thoroughfares.

Click here for more information.

In Newport Beach, southbound MacArthur Boulevard will be closed from San Joaquin Hills Road to East Coast Highway. Coast Highway will also be closed from MacArthur Boulevard to Orchid Avenue, as will Bayside Drive in both directions from Jamboree Boulevard to Marguerite Avenue. Other temporary closures will include portions of Harbor Boulevard and Fairview Road in Costa Mesa, among many other smaller roads throughout the course that traverses Newport Beach, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa.

Thousands of runners from more than 20 countries and all 50 states are expected to compete at the 3-day Running Festival that includes the full and half marathons, the Wahoo’s OC 5K, and one of the biggest kids’ races in the country, the Kids Run the OC presented by Nutrilite, which expects about 9500 local school-age children. The full and half marathons begin early Sunday morning at the starting line in Newport Beach’s Fashion Island, culminating in the Ultimate Finish Line Festival at the OC Fair and Events Center in Costa Mesa.

More than 12,000 spectators will come out to enjoy the race from various vantage points along the route, cheering on runners and offering moral support in the form of signs, balloons and water stations.

The Wahoo’s OC 5K will take place on Saturday, May 6 at 5:00 pm. Westbound traffic on Merrimac will be closed, as will Fairview Road at Merrimac between 4:30 pm and 6:00 pm.

For more information about road closure times, shuttles and spectating opportunities, please visit the U.S. Bank OC Marathon website at ocmarathon.com or email us at traffic@ocmarathon.com

The Orange County Transportation Authority wants to know what vision do the residents of Costa Mesa have for transit in and throughout Orange County.

Do residents want trains, buses, shuttles or something different?

The Orange County Transportation Authority is asking for the public’s help in shaping the future of transit.

Participants can design their own transit system with the fun and interactive Build Your Own System survey that allows them to select from various transit features that could enhance transit in Orange County.

These features include stops, stations, vehicle types, and service.

By developing a personalized transit system, residents can see the benefits – such as enhanced ridership, travel time, accessibility, or passenger experience – change in real-time.

Check it out at https://octransitvision.com/.

For more information, visit www.octa.net/octransitvision.

City Manager Tom Hatch presented firefighter paramedic Giovanni La Placa with the April City Manager’s Leadership Award at the monthly Meet and Greet event.

“Like his colleagues on our Fire & Rescue team, I very much appreciate Giovanni’s passion for having a well-trained EMS team,” Hatch said. “On top of that, his dedication to service, volunteerism and family outside of his job is very admirable. I’m happy to present him with this Leadership Award.”

La Placa began his career with the City of Costa Mesa in 2006 as a firefighter paramedic and he currently holds the position of chair of the EMS Committee. He attends the Orange County Fire Chiefs EMS meetings and Community Paramedic Advisory Committee meetings representing the organization. Since his arrival here, he has been committed to the organization and was a part of the strategic planning committee and was a paramedic evaluator during the last recruitment process.

La Placa has a passion for teaching and has obtained his American Heart Association BLS/ACLS and PALS instructor certification, teaching CPR, first aid, ACLS and PALS to current employees and Costa Mesa Fire Explorers. He’s very adept at patient care and was recognized for a great save in 2014 by the Orange County base hospital coordinators.

La Placa’s emergency medicine path started at the age of 14 when he began volunteering as an explorer for the City of Monrovia Fire Department and he later graduated from the Rio Hondo Fire Academy in 2002.  He continued his education and became a paramedic, graduating from UCLA-Daniel Freemen in 2004 and went on to work as a paramedic in San Diego County and a reserve firefighter for the City of Poway.

La Placa holds two degrees from Mt. San Antonio College in Fire Technology and Emergency Medical Services. He holds multiple professional certifications and continues to strive to grow professional daily. When his not at work, he volunteers at church and at the Orange County Children’s Theater making sure he is a part of his family and daughters lives.  He is also a successful business owner and recently finished his first sprint triathlon last year.

In addition to honoring La Placa, City Manager Hatch also recognized several new and newly promoted employees.

The new employees included from the City Manager’s Department Stacy Bennett an Office Specialist who works in the City Clerk’s Office, Heidi Jacinto, a Code Enforcement Officer in the Economic and Development Services Department, Miranda Gonzalez, a Recreation Leader III in the Parks & Community Services Department and Aura Wardle, a new Communications Officer in the Police Department.

Recognized for their promotions were Andrea Granadoes, an Office Specialist in the Fire Department and David Nguyen, an Office Specialist II in the City Clerk’s office.

The Public Services Department has contracted RJ Noble Co. to construct a new asphalt concrete surface layer for Adams Avenue from Fairview Road to Peterson Place.

Work will take place this Saturday, April 29 from 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

At least one lane of traffic will be maintained in both directions along Adams Avenue, however, it is highly recommended that motorists and pedestrians use alternative routes to the OCC Swap Meet and neighboring areas.

The construction to fields 3 and 4 at Jack Hammett Sports Complex began this week and progress has been steady.  The upgrades include work to bring the fields up-to NFL quality standard so that the Los Angeles Chargers Football Organization can use the space to host the team’s Summer Training Camp, which will also feature practices that are open to the general public.

The enhanced field space will also benefit the many youth sports leagues that practice and play games at the complex.

Highlighting the City of Costa Mesa’s ties to art and action sports, the Action Arts in the Park exhibition returns this year to TeWinkle Park and will feature the work of four muralists, a skateboard competition, a dance demonstration and interactive public art projects at TeWinkle Park.

The second annual event, scheduled this Saturday April 29 from 12 noon to 4 p.m., was the brainchild of the city’s Cultural Arts Committee.

“Costa Mesa is such a fun, diverse, interesting place to live and we wanted to put on a high-energy event that reflected some of the best elements of this City – the artists, the action sports and the opportunities for families to spend the day in the park,” said Cultural Arts Committee Chair Andrea Marr.

For the city’s Parks & Community Services Department the event presents another avenue to promote Costa Mesa as the City of the Arts and share the City’s unique vibe and melting pot dynamic, Recreation Manager Justin Martin said.

“The Action Arts in the Park event is a really unique event that serves to highlight Costa Mesa’s vibrant arts scene in conjunction with the City’s edgy and ever-growing action sports scene,” Martin said.  “The goal is to have community members of all ages come together in one of the City’s most beautiful parks to enjoy an afternoon that is artistic, athletic, adventurous, energetic and family oriented.”

Four muralists, Josh Madrid, Maxx Gramajo, Ben Brough and Janelle Hinshaw, will paint a new mural from scratch onto a plywood canvas. In addition there will be a skate competition; live music by Cali Conscious and Sturgeon Rock; a dance performance from West Coast School of the Arts; and interactive art stations where patrons can paint a car, design a skateboard and spin art.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District high school students will be demonstrating their clay throwing skills and there will also be a Kids Zone with an Extreme Jumper and a Mechanical Surfboard

On the culinary side, Inspired Art & Wine is offering a design your own bottle event and several food trucks will also be on hand including The Big Cheese Truck, Scooter’s Ice, and Burger Monster.

The title sponsor of the event is Segerstrom Center for the Arts and other sponsors include Vans, The Art Institute of California – OC, Inspired Art & Wine, Papa Murphy’s, Chuck Jones Center, Attic Skateshop, Raising Canes, Garcia Chiropractic and Urban Workshop.

Construction began in early April to remove and replace damaged concrete sidewalks, curb, gutter, and wheel chair ramps on both the north and south sides of Adams Avenue between Fairview Road and Peterson Place.

Following completion of this work, street paving operations will be initiated, which includes grinding the existing roadway pavement and replacing with new, rubberized hot mix asphalt, and restriping of lane lines and legends.

Work will be conducted during daytime off-peak hours. A minimum of one-lane of traffic shall be maintained in each direction at all times.

All work is tentatively scheduled to be completed by mid-May.

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson recently announced that 275 middle schools and high schools are being honored under the Gold Ribbon Schools Awards Program.

Schools applied for the award based on a model program or practice their school has adopted that includes standards-based activities, projects, strategies, and practices that can be replicated by other local educational agencies. The award acknowledged elementary schools last year.

“These terrific schools are leading the way in embracing our new rigorous academic standards and showing others how to help students succeed on their way to 21st century careers and college,” Torlakson said. “I look forward to traveling the state to honor these schools and to help share the programs, methods, and techniques that are working.”

The Gold Ribbon Awards recognize California schools that have made gains in implementing the academic content and performance standards adopted by the State Board of Education. These include the California Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics, California English Language Development Standards, and Next Generation Science Standards.

The 2017 Gold Ribbon Schools as well as the 2017 Exemplary Program recipients, Title I Academic Achieving Award Schools, 2017 Green Ribbon Schools, 2017 Civic Learning Award Schools, and the National Blue Ribbon Schools from 2016, will be honored in May during regional ceremonies held in Costa Mesa, Santa Clara, Los Angeles, Visalia, and Sacramento.

Click here to read the California Department of Education full News Release.