NEWPORT BEACH : City May Order War Memorial Dismantled

City officials will decide June 26 whether to order Pacific View Memorial Park operators to dismantle a $250,000 war memorial that was erected without permits.

Cemetery representatives seeking approval for a 15-year expansion plan from the City Council on Monday were caught off guard when residents challenged the monument installation.

The six granite monuments are each six feet high, 10 feet long and two feet wide. Four are dedicated to various branches of the military, one to law enforcement and one to firefighters. Each contains 32 niches for ashes of those who have died in the line of duty, and the group is enclosed within a border of service-related flags.

The Garden of Valor was installed May 20 to the chagrin of some residents who already had opposed the cemetery’s plans to build mausoleums and monuments. The debate included 16 months of often-contentious negotiations with cemetery representatives.

Their complaints had prompted the City Council to order the monuments removed before giving final approval to the 168,000-square-foot expansion, despite cemetery officials’ protests that they were unaware of the need for a permit.

“We understood these to be monuments. Nowhere in the country is a permit needed for something like this,” said Mike Ross, cemetery assistant general manager.

Senior planner William Ward said permits are required for any structure, wall or free-standing monument more than three feet high. Cemetery officials applied for the necessary permits after residents brought the memorial to planners’ attention, he added.

The council first decided to order the monuments removed but relented after cemetery officials asked for another hearing. The council will reconsider its decision on the memorial and cast a final vote on the expansion development agreement June 26.