To get Orange County’s homeless population on a path toward self-sufficiency, homeless advocates are proposing the Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa be repurposed as a mental health center that provides long-term recovery.

Several homeless advocates voiced their concerns to the City Council Tuesday, saying they would like to see some of the 114-acre property used to provide long-term recovery to the county’s burgeoning homeless.

Fairview, a state institution for people with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other developmental and intellectual disabilities, is set to close by 2021. The property could be either be repurposed or sold to a private party.

The facility, located at 2501 Harbor Blvd., currently houses 194 developmentally disabled adults who require 24-hour care.

The advocates said they envision a mental health center where those experiencing a crisis can receive psychiatric evaluations, follow-up care and temporary housing.

“In an ideal world, we would like a 250-bed wrap-around mental health facility,” said Matt Holzmann, chair of government relations for the Orange County chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness. “What we would like is where we could have people with mental illness check in, get their acute care and then get post-acute care.”

The population at Fairview has rapidly declined since it opened in 1959, when state institutions were options for families who could not care for their children with developmental and intellectual disabilities. In the 1960s, the population peaked with 2,700 residents.

In December, State Senator John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa, introduced Senate Bill 59, which would ask the legislature to state its intentions for the property.

“There’s an infinite number of opportunities for that property,” Moorlach said. “We want to work with the county, the community, the city of Costa Mesa… to protect the city, the residents and those that are in need.”

Holzmann said he would like the center to resemble the Haven for Hope center in San Antonio, which has won accolades for its success in providing low-income housing and psychiatric and medical care.

“Getting them three-square meals and a roof over their head and making sure they stay on their meds and therapy if they need it… that could be part of it as well,” Holzmann said.

Once Fairview closes, the state Department of General Services will determine if the state can find another use for the property or sell it. If the property is sold to a private entity, the owner would be subject to Costa Mesa’s zoning laws.

The city’s general plan designates 25 percent of the property’s acreage for public institutional uses, said Mayor Katrina Foley.

“It’s a combination of public institutional, single-family housing and a community open space,” she said. “We are willing to work with the groups, the county to come up with a plan for that 25 percent area that can serve the community in need with regard to support service, mental health and other disabled services.”

Councilman Jim Righeimer said he cares about the mental health and homeless issues in the city, but had concerns the city would become a magnet for homeless people should Fairview expand its homeless services.

“We’re willing to take more than our fair share, but we’re not willing to take the whole county’s,” he said.

A recently-approved growth initiative, known as Measure Y, which is retroactive to the time the property was zoned, may raise issues about the current zoning of Fairview.

In the ongoing struggle to address mental health concerns, county officials have made some progress.

In September, the Children’s Hospital of Orange County broke ground on a mental health facility that will supply 18 beds for children under 12. The facility is slated to open next year.

County officials accepted a $3.1 million grant last year to help pay for emergency medical centers dedicated to treating those suffering from psychiatric episodes.

The county has suffered from a shortage of psychiatric hospital beds in recent years, resulting in long waits for one to open up in hospital emergency rooms. A 2014 Register investigation found there were 32 psychiatric beds in all of Orange County for it’s roughly 725,000 residents under age 18.

Last year, more than 200 homeless people died – the deadliest year for homeless people in the county. They died as a result of drugs, mental illness, violence and years of neglect, according to the Orange County Coroner’s Office.

Contact the writer: 714-796-2478 or lcasiano@scng.com