City manager: Preschool wall will stay

COSTA MESA -- A reinforced wall built to protect a day-care center where

two children were killed by a car in May will remain standing, City

Manager Allan Roeder has decided.

After listening to neighbors’ complaints about the wall infringing on

public sidewalks, Roeder upheld a prior decision to issue an encroachment

permit.

In an eight-page letter to neighbors opposing the wall’s location, Roeder

admitted “the wall should not have been constructed where it presently

exists.” However, the city’s top administrator believes several

modifications will address the neighbors’ concerns.

“We acknowledge an error was made to the location of the wall, but (to)

what extent is it hazardous to the public?” Roeder questioned. “I think

the underlying issue is whether an encroachment should be allowed at this

site. Examining the criteria, we felt it should.”

The wall surrounding the Southcoast Early Childhood Learning Center was

meant to shield children who attend the day-care facility from the kind

of tragedy that happened nearly four months ago. Two children were killed

and several more injured when a 39-year-old Santa Ana man plowed through

a chain-link fence into a playground.

While the wall has come to symbolize security for day-care

administrators, some neighbors see the barricade as a safety hazard.

During a community meeting last Thursday, several residents complained

the wall is a visual hindrance for motorists trying to inch their way out

of an alley onto Santa Ana Avenue.

Roeder disagreed with that notion, saying the line of sight coming out of

the alley is adequate. One of Roeder’s recommendations is to add parking

restrictions on curbs that abut the alley so motorists aren’t hindered by

parked vehicles.

The city also will contact Edison International about adding better

lighting to the area, and Roeder suggested seven trees be planted on the

L-shaped playground.

Paul Wilbur, who lives near the day-care center, said he hasn’t talked

with other neighbors about appealing the decision. Residents have until 5

p.m. Thursday to file an appeal, which would leave the matter to the City

Council to decide.

Wilbur said the city’s Planning Department failed to give him answers

about the zoning of the center’s playground two months prior to the

tragedy.

“How did the playground get this way?” he asked. “The Planning Department

has been working against us. We’ve tried to bring this up to the city,

and we’ve been portrayed as people who aren’t concerned with the safety

of the kids. That isn’t true.”

In researching the dispute, Roeder found a gaping, adversarial rift

between some of the neighbors and the day-care center, which is owned by

the Lighthouse Community Church across the street. Roeder believes both

sides should sit down and talk about resolving their differences.

“The problems go beyond the wall,” he said. “The church should initiate

contact to assemble some meetings to identify these problems.”

While the wall’s future may be set in place, there are other roadblocks

ahead. Day-care teachers want to place a plaque there commemorating the

lives of the two slain children, 4-year-old Sierra Soto and 3-year-old

Brandon Wiener. The permit doesn’t allow modifications of the wall. The

church’s facilities manager Ed Deckert proposed last month to the City

Council that the wall be dedicated as a memorial.

“We’re happy for the moment,” said day-care Assistant Director Carrie

McCluskey. “But if this drags on, I don’t know how much energy we have

left. I’d like to have things hashed out so we can get back to our focus

... the kids.”