COSTA MESA PLANNING COMMISSION PREVIEW

Here are some items the planning commission will consider Monday.

GISLER BRIDGE

The planning commission will consider taking another small step in getting the locally hated Gisler and Garfield bridge out of official city plans. The city has long been fighting plans for two bridges over the Santa Ana River — they would extend Gisler Avenue and 19th Street into Huntington Beach. Residents say there would be too much of an effect to neighborhoods, and officials have made a little progress at getting the bridges out of official Orange County Transportation Authority plans.

The bridges are being studied now. An agreement with Huntington Beach and two other cities to do the study also says Costa Mesa can downgrade the Gisler corridor from “secondary arterial” to “right-of-way reserve.” It sounds like bureaucratic nonsense, but for Costa Mesans who don’t want the bridge, the change a small step to scrapping the plans.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The commission probably will recommend the change to the City Council.

DESIGN AWARDS

Three projects will receive the commission’s design award: the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, which opened in September; the Volcom skate park, well-used since its 2005 opening; and Cornerstone Homes, a recently finished project on formerly state-owned land on Harbor Boulevard.

Design awards recognize projects for excellence in community planning and design. The Camp shopping center on Bristol Street and Armstrong Garden Center are among previous award recipients.

— Compiled by

Alicia Robinson