Crossing the line?

Jennifer Kho

WEST SIDE -- On Swan Drive along Fairview Park, backyards of various

sizes jut out, forming a ragged border for a spit of parkland surrounded

by private homes on one side and a flood control channel on the other.

But that jagged property line along the residential area should run

straight, according to a city map, meaning about 20 of 32 backyards

illegally encroach on the public park, said Bill Morris, the city’s

public services director.

City staff members have scheduled a meeting tonight to discuss the

encroachments.

Some of the Fairview Park encroachments, which take the form of

planter boxes, walls and patio furniture, are less than a foot out of

bounds, while others encroach nearly 20 feet into the park.

“When I saw it, I said, ‘What in the world is this?’ ” said former

mayor Sandy Genis, who reported the encroachments to the city. “The more

fences, walls, barbecues and whatever else you get in this area ... the

less accessible it is for wildlife. Any time we have open space, we need

to make sure we keep it public.”

But some homeowners argue that the encroachments should be allowed

because they cause no harm to the public property.

Anne Sorenson, a Swan Drive resident whose backyard does not spill

over into Fairview Park, said her neighbors should be allowed to keep

their fences and planters, and that the city should not demand that all

the items be removed.

“I think the city should work it out with the homeowners instead of

just demanding that they remove everything. The land is not being used

anyway, so if someone can use it, maybe with the permission of the city,

then why not?” said Sorenson, an outspoken member of the Piecemakers, a

Costa Mesa-based religious group that often criticizes government

actions.

However, the city may be legally restricted from allowing

encroachments at Fairview Park.

One requirement of the 1986 purchase agreement, under which the

previously county-owned park was sold to the city at a reduced cost, is

that Costa Mesa must retain the parkland “as recreational open space in

perpetuity for the benefit of the public.”

Tonight’s meeting will give city officials a chance to offer

homeowners information on the location of property lines and to collect

input for creating a citywide encroachment policy, Morris said.

“We’re basically talking about private use of public property,” Morris

said. “We have parks everywhere and certainly a lot of residential homes

and other properties that back up or side onto the city parks, so we need

to be consistent and uniform citywide.

“We need a citywide policy,” he added. “It could be a policy that

allows no encroachments, period, or one that allows conditional

encroachments in some instances, or one that allows widespread

encroachments. All of those options have to be discussed and brought out

into the open before a standard policy can be made.”

FYI

A meeting to discuss the encroachments is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight

at City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.

QUESTION

o7 OVERSTEPPING BOUNDARIES?f7

Are residents out of bounds for encroaching land at Fairview Park?

Call our Readers Hotline at (949) 642-6086 or e-mail your comments to o7

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