Skate park hangs in balance

Susan McCormack

COSTA MESA -- Tonight might be the last chance the city has on getting a

skateboard park built, Mayor Gary Monahan said.

If the City Council fails to make a decision about building a skateboard

facility at TeWinkle Park, no skate park may be built, he said.

“We might as well kiss the skateboard park goodbye,” Monahan said.

The site the council is focusing on is at the east side of TeWinkle Park,

near the corner of Junipero Drive and Arlington Avenue. The area is open

turf with a grove of eucalyptus and ash trees.

At the meeting, the council is expected to approve a motion to start

community hearings on the park and begin the environmental paperwork

needed before building the proposed 10,000-square-foot facility.

The council will also work on producing a long-term plan to identify two

possible locations in Lions Park as future skateboard park sites.

Originally, the council had approved a location at Lions Park, at 18th

Street and Park Avenue, for the skateboard park. However, strong protests

by nearby residents, who feared the facility would reduce general park

use, halted plans.

The city’s public services department also is scheduled to present its

findings on several alternative sites for a skateboard park, including

Shiffer and Civic Center Parks. The pros and cons of using high schools

and middle schools within the Newport-Mesa Unified School District as

locations for such a park will be discussed.

Once the council has approved a park, it will have to amend its park

master plan, conduct public workshops and get approval of the project

from several commissions before it can accept bids to construct the

project. The council expects the bidding process to begin in August 2000.

The council also is expected to adopt a historical preservation

ordinance. The purpose of the ordinance, according to staff reports, is

to “promote the public health, safety and general welfare by providing

for the identification, protection, enhancement, perpetuation and use of

buildings, structures, sites, districts, neighborhoods and natural

features... having special historical, archeological or community value

in the City.”

The ordinance would require owners to maintain the places, and would

limit their ability to reconstruct them. However, owners would be

eligible to receive recognition for their properties and grants and loans

to maintain them.

The City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, 77 Fair Drive.