Fish Fry saved in adjusted city plan

A proposal to put a skate park at either Lions or Fairview parks has come to a skidding halt.

The council voted 3-2 Tuesday, with Mayor Allan Mansoor and Councilman Eric Bever dissenting, to not move forward with the planning and design for a permanent skate park at Lions Park.

Instead, Costa Mesa officials are looking into creating mini skateboarding facilities across multiple parks in the city, excluding Fairview.

“It’s kind of pulling back from the idea of building a second, fairly large skateboard facility in Lions Park to something more distributed around the community where you might have small skateboarding areas around the community,” City Manager Allan Roeder said.

A report on possible sites for small skate facilities is due from city officials by January.

“We’re trying to move it (quickly) so it doesn’t disappear again,” Councilwoman Katrina Foley said. The public also showed little support for putting a skating area at Fairview Park, city officials said. Though plenty of residents spoke on the issue, the argument was convincingly one-sided. The council rejected adjusting that passive park’s master plan to allow for a skate park.

“Don’t open the master plan because once you do you’ll have other people coming back for other things also,” Councilwoman Wendy Leece said.

Fairview Park was suggested earlier in the year as an alternative to Lions Park. The issue was sometimes painted as a decision of whether to save the Fish Fry or the natural land at Fairview Park. Tuesday night it was anything but.

“I think we made headway. I like the idea of these modules and parks where they’re going to work and be good recreation for our young people but they’re not intrusive,” Leece said. “They won’t affect the quality of life for residents.”

Foley had also suggested the city look into purchasing land for sale around the city. Perhaps it could serve as a future home for the large, multipurpose skate park everyone had in mind originally, she said.

“Frankly, we have no funding to go out and be making offers on properties,” Roeder said. “I just don’t think that really accomplishes much for anyone and ultimately there was no action [from the city].”

The meeting ended late with the Fish Fry saved for Lions Park and Fairview Park land preserved.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].