City to decide fate of skate park

S.J. Cahn

COSTA MESA -- The City Council on Monday will try, once again, to find a

place for skateboarders to call home.

It might not be easy.

City staff is proposing the city move ahead with plans to build a

10,000-square-foot park at TeWinkle Park. But, once again, that proposal

faces possible council opposition.

“I’m not sure I agree with the recommendation,” said Councilman Joe

Erickson. “I’m concerned that TeWinkle Park has so much going on.”

The park is already crowded, Erickson said. Besides traffic from the

nearby Orange County Fairgrounds, the park is the site of the city’s “Dog

Park,” as well as tennis courts and soccer fields.

“My bottom line is that it’s taken a long time to get a skate park,” he

said, adding that he wants to see a park built before he leaves the

council next year. “Skateboarders are not criminals.”

As he has done before, Mayor Gary Monahan stressed that if the council

doesn’t make a decision, the city may not get a skate park any time soon.

And, like Erickson, Monahan said he has questions about TeWinkle being

the choice.

“I’m not thrilled with TeWinkle,” he said, adding that he still thinks

Lions Park is a viable option.

Homeowners near Lions Park earlier this year convinced the council to

halt its plans to build a park at that site.

The council has set aside nearly $250,000 to build a skate park.

Erickson agreed that a decision on the skate park must be made.

Last month, Erickson proposed the city look at a 0.5-acre, city-owned

piece of property at the corner of Charle and Hamilton streets. While he

still thinks that site is a good alternative, city staff say they are

worried it is too close to nearby homes and lacks bathrooms and adequate

parking.

The cost of adding both, along with landscaping and security, would be

$107,000, according to the staff report.

Staff is also suggesting the city approve a long-term plan to find a

location for a second skate park. Possible locations for that park

include Lions Park, TeWinkle Middle School, Costa Mesa High School and

Estancia High School.

The debate on where to build a skate park is part of a busy agenda that

also includes discussions of a proposed temporary halt to some building

on the West Side, a county plan to build a light rail system along Main

Street, and possible annexation of parts of county land near the East

Side.

Last month, a divided Planning Commission approved the moratorium on West

Side construction. Unlike earlier proposals, this time the restrictions

would be limited to bars, liquor stores and other new requests for

alcohol licenses.

The moratorium also would cover any new automotive repair or industrial

businesses in two areas: 19th Street between Federal and Pomona avenues,

and Placentia Avenue between 18th and Victoria streets.

“I have no problem supporting a moratorium on additional liquor stores

and bars,” said Erickson, who has opposed the restrictions in the past.

But, he added, he has no intention of supporting a wider halt to business

development.

Monahan, however, said he thinks any halt to development is a bad idea.

“We need more people who are proud of the West Side, are proud of their

property and are willing to invest in their property,” he said.

“We need investment on the West Side.”

Across town on the East Side, talk is not so much of investment as it is

of annexation. A number of residents in unincorporated county land that

is within Costa Mesa’s sphere of influence -- including land essentially

surrounded by Costa Mesa -- have said they would rather become part of

Newport Beach.

That has the council riled up.

“I don’t think the citizens of Costa Mesa, the taxpayers of Costa Mesa,

should support services for residents [who want] a Newport Beach

address,” Erickson said.

The council also will consider adopting a county proposal for a light

rail system that would enter the city on Main Street and travel along

Anton Boulevard, with one terminal station at Anton and Avenue of the

Arts and another at Main and Sunflower Avenue.

“It’s dynamite for our city,” Monahan said of the plan.

The council meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.