Council to rework plans for Fairview Park

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- After listening to dozens of residents’ concerns, the

City Council sent Fairview Park remodeling plans back to the drawing

board Monday.

“The intent is to make it a user-friendly park,” said Councilman Joe

Erickson. “We listened to the people who spoke. It isn’t a natural park

right now, but it is very usable. We also want to restore it to its

natural state.”

The city plans to turn the park -- now a grassy field with dirt trails

-- into a nature preserve. It has proposed to replace exotic plants with

native ones, add parking areas and pave some of the trails.

Paving the paths would allow bicyclists to use the trails, now

designated for pedestrian and limited equestrian use. Strollers,

skateboards and wheelchairs are also easier to use on paved trails, said

David Alkema, parks project manager for the city.

But many residents spoke against the proposed paving.

“Show the people some trust,” Costa Mesa resident Janice Davidson said

to the council. “If we leave the trails as they are and people abuse

them, then you can take them away.”

David Goss, one of residents who sent letters expressing concern about

pavement at the park, agreed with Davidson.

“I see the park, as it is today, as a people’s park,” Goss said,

reading a letter aloud at the meeting. “[Some trails were] drawn by

planners and are paved and purposeful, but many more [have been] drawn by

the people and are unpaved but equally purposeful. It is my observation

that the trails which get the most use are by far the ones drawn by the

people. Please listen to the people.”

The new proposal includes reducing the width of trails and fewer paved

trails. Pedestrian trails -- originally designed to be 5 to 8 feet wide

-- will be no wider than 3 feet, according to the new plan. Multipurpose

trails, many of which will be made from natural materials instead of

asphalt or concrete, will be between 4 and 8 feet wide instead of 15

feet.

The intent of the council’s decision was to minimize the amount of

hard surface trails and maximize the amount of natural trails wherever

possible, Alkema said.

The City Council will review the new plans at its next meeting Sept.

5.