COSTA MESA

Several people with development interests on the west side attended Monday’s City Council meeting and spoke against a proposal to impose a moratorium in the area, saying it could bring building to a standstill. The council is giving consideration to imposing a moratorium on the west side--roughly between Harbor Boulevard, Wilson Street, the Santa Ana River and Newport Beach city boundaries--pending completion of a land-use study.

City staff has presented four options to the council, ranging from an extreme moratorium that would halt all new building to other plans that target specific land-uses and geographical areas. Three council members had voiced support for a moratorium targeted at land uses such as mini-warehouses and bars at the last council meeting, saying the measure was needed to stop incompatible uses on the west side. Mayor Gary Monahan has been the most adamantly opposed to the proposal and questioned what development projects the city would have been turning down. “In my mind, what the west side needs most is investment,” he said.