Drainage project may patch massive pit in resident’s yard

Before Buddy Cox moved back into his childhood home 10 years ago, he didn’t think much about the hole along his property line.

The homes along Mesa Drive are unlike many residences elsewhere in Newport Beach. Residents driving home in the Bayview Heights community share the road with neighbors on horseback. The sprawling properties offer some of the city’s most picturesque views of Upper Newport Bay.

Cox’s house, which sits on a 2.7-acre parcel at the end of Mesa Drive known as Goose Hill, is no exception to the area’s uniqueness.

Every morning when Cox ventures outside and looks to his left, he’s greeted with the mesmerizing view of osprey skimming over the shimmering bay. If he looks to his right, however, his view is of a 20-foot-deep trench 10 feet across on the edge of his backyard. The pit begins at a walking path just in front of the bay.

It’s the same hole that has entrenched his family in a decades-long fight with public agencies, and it could be one of the sources of sediment buildup in the bay, experts say.

Cox has been urging the city to fill in the hole, which was caused by water running from a storm drain into the upper portion of the bay. The City Council approved funding for that this month, asking Cox, a neighbor and Orange County to help foot the bill.

Cox, 60, watched as a boy 50 years ago as his father fought the county to get the hole filled in, but he hadn’t thought about it much in his time away from home. He lived in Tustin before moving back to Mesa Drive after his parents died.

As the years went by, the hole grew until it became what it is today, threatening to swallow up more of Cox’s property each day.

“With every jewel you get a few imperfections,” he said.

*

Storm drain problems

Cox said people often are surprised to learn that decades worth of runoff from the 68 homes in Bayview Heights created the massive ditch.

In an attempt to improve water quality in the bay and reduce the cost of future dredging, the city plans to move the pipe farther down the property and erect headwalls, or concrete coverings for pipes, as well as berms that would act as a filtration system for the water flowing from homes to the bay. It also plans to fill in the hole.

The City Council voted Nov. 12 to approve $355,000 for the project. The county, which owns part of the storm drain, has pledged $50,000. Cox and his neighbor will contribute $25,000 each to complete the project.

“Frankly, now is the time to bite the bullet and deal with this problem for the benefit of the bay,” Councilman Keith Curry said.

When the housing tract was built in the early 1950s, the drainage was concentrated at Mesa Drive, flowed across Cox’s property to the back and then worked its way down a bluff in a non-engineered channel between Cox’s home and his neighbor’s before draining into the upper bay, said city Public Works Director David Webb.

Over the years, the velocity of the water began cutting into the ground, creating the gaping hole that stands there today.

“The developers probably didn’t put a lot of thought into how the slope would erode over time,” Webb said.

Cox approached the city about the issue more than four years ago. His concern was not only about his property but also the amount of unfiltered water ending up in the bay from people watering their fertilized lawns and washing their cars with soap.

Several years ago, Cox came up with the idea of putting a tarp over the back of the hole to slow its growth. It helped temporarily, he said, but it hasn’t solved the problem.

Last year, one of Cox’s sons was sleeping in the house when he heard a crack and felt what he thought was an earthquake. The hole had claimed one of the trees in the backyard.

“Eventually it’s going to start taking out the street,” Cox said.

The hole dates to when his father bought the property in the 1960s. At the time, the county owned the land.

Cox’s father battled the county in court to get a longer pipe installed and have the trench filled. The county agreed to fill the hole but did not extend the pipe. After years of fighting, the elder Cox gave up.

The situation made a lasting impression on his son.

“I distinctly remember the day he gave up,” he said. “It’s the only time I’ve have ever seen my dad quit.”

*

Shared responsibility

Bayview Heights was annexed by Newport Beach in the early 2000s, meaning the city is now responsible for maintaining the land, city officials said.

However, Cox and his neighbor are responsible for a portion of the drainage project because it runs through private property, city officials say.

“It is the responsibility of the property owners to allow for the storm flows to be safely conveyed across the property, including protecting the slope from erosion,” according to a city staff report.

The $25,000 share is a lot of money for Cox, who has a college-age daughter and son looking at higher education in the next few years.

But, he said, “after decades and seeing what my dad went through, if this gets it done then we’re going to do it.”

The city will spend about $355,000 to complete the upgrades and fill in the hole. Some of the funding will come from a grant from the Orange County Transportation Authority for improvements to the bay. The rest will be taken from the city’s general fund.

Once the drainage improvements are finished, the city will take over maintenance.

*

Improving the bay

The drainage project is part of a long-term effort by the Newport Bay Conservancy, the city and the county to restore the tidal, riparian and upland areas of the bay, which have been affected by erosion, loss of native plants, incursion of non-native plants and a proliferation of illegal trails.

The coalition is removing invasive plants and illegal trails, rehabilitating walking paths, planting coastal sage and cactus scrub, refurbishing wetland areas and creating bird-watching lookouts, according to city documents.

Jack Keating, a member of the Newport Bay Conservancy, has been working with the city on the drainage upgrade and other projects around the bay. John Kappeler, water-quality enforcement division manager for the city, also has been instrumental in the effort, Cox said.

Keating hopes the project will help eliminate the need for future dredging. The city will have to approach the California Coastal Commission before making improvements. It’s unclear when the commission might vote on the project.

“The sediment is loaded with who knows what, but it was badly compromising much of the habitat,” Keating said. “By solving this part of the problem, we’ve made enormous strides in fixing these issues.”