City officials submitted a letter claiming a regional emergency operations center, if built, would devalue the 114-acre parcel they're eyeing to house 2,300 residential units.
A Daily Pilot reader writes that a planned Emergency Operations Center is unsuitable for the Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa and suggests capping part of the 55 Freeway as a way to create more building space in the area.
California's Office of Emergency Services wants to use 15 acres of the state-owned Fairview Developmental Center to more quickly respond to regional disasters. The public has until Monday to comment on possible impacts.
The City Council will discuss Tuesday whether the now-defunct state hospital grounds could accommodate up to 2,300 residential units. The discussion is the first step in a planning process toward which the state has committed $3.5 million.
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As an unparalleled surge in coronavirus infections outstrips hospital capacities, and with virtually no ICU beds available for Orange County COVID-19 patients, officials announced Wednesday that Costa Mesa’s Fairview Developmental Center has reopened as a regional alternate care site.
Partially retrofitted in April to accept individuals recovering from COVID-19 and other low-acuity coronavirus cases, the center stopped admitting patients on Sept. 30 after several months of low patient census.
The state-owned facility remained in a “warm close” state, meaning it could reopen within 72 to 96 hours if needed. This week, as state and county health officials looked for ways to alleviate packed emergency rooms and ICU units, the site was officially brought back online.