Cosa Mesa won’t sell off bits of Fairview Park

Deirdre Newman

Ardent opposition to the city’s selling parcels of Fairview Park to

homeowners who have encroached upon them convinced the City Council

on Monday to nix the idea.

The council decided instead to offer encroachment permits for

homeowners whose backyards and belongings cross into the park less

than 40 inches beyond their property lines. Homeowners whose homes

encroach 40 inches or more must vacate that park space.

The decision is the culmination of a year of the city’s

consideration to sell the parcels at the request of the 17 homeowners

on Swan Drive who have encroached on the park.

Only one Swan Drive homeowner showed up to plead his case on

Monday. He was severely outnumbered by the 20 opponents from

throughout the county who provided a variety of arguments and

parables as to why the city should not sell the land. Foremost among

them was that it would be unethical to reward the homeowners for

encroaching.

“This is a very basic ethical question,” former Councilwoman

Heather Somers said. “Whether we’re teaching our children that the

city will stand up for ethics and say this is not for the taking.”

The encroachments by the Swan Drive homeowners west of Placentia

Avenue include block walls, wooden and chain-link fences, planters

and other landscaping. The homeowners have exceeded their property

limits from less than one foot to more than 22 feet.

The council was set to consider whether to send a letter to the

county asking for permission to sell the parcels. The city needed the

county’s permission based on the original purchase agreement when it

bought the parkland from the county.

But many residents, some council members and City Manager Allan

Roeder felt it was premature to send the letter without deciding

whether to sell the parcels.

“Let me recommend strongly against [sending the letter],” Roeder

said. “It sends a mixed message to residents and a mixed message to

the Board of Supervisors. It asks them to vote on ‘What if?’”

The one Swan Drive homeowner who addressed the council was Tim

Cromwell. While his encroachment now qualifies for a permit, he said

he was disappointed that opponents thought he and his neighbors were

trying to take advantage of city property.

‘It’s just a shame that we couldn’t all just sit in a room and

everybody could have understood that we weren’t trying to steal

property -- everyone bought these properties,” Cromwell said.

But critics said whether the encroachments were inherited or not,

they are still wrong. Opponents also countered previous claims by the

Swan Drive homeowners that the land they encroached on was useless.

“It’s not useless,” resident Mike Berry said. “We’ve been waiting

for a bike path for so long.”

Councilwoman Libby Cowan agreed.

“There have indeed been plans for that area,” Cowan said. “They’ve

been discussed, but are not in the [Fairview Park] master plan

because of the residents of Swan Drive. We really let the Swan Drive

residents plan our park.”

The council unanimously approved an idea by Councilman Allan

Mansoor to offer the encroachment permits for those using up to 39

inches of park, with Mayor Gary Monahan absent. Loud applause from

encroachment opponents followed the decision.

The decision means that those who have encroached six inches or

less will only have to pay an application fee to apply for the

permit. Those who have encroached from six to 39 inches will have to

pay an application fee and an encroachment fee, which has not been

determined. If these homeowners sell their property or the city needs

to use the encroached space, they will have to remove their

encroachments within 120 days.

Any encroachments beyond 39 inches have to be removed within 120

days of pending notification by the city, Public Services Director

Bill Morris said.

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Byron de Arakal said he wants to

explore the concept of getting grant funding to pay for natural

re-vegetation of the area that has been encroached upon.

“I’m not blaming the Swan Drive people, but the idea of having

encroachments on public land, I would rather make better use of it,”

de Arakal said.