Residents, businesses tripped up by parking

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA -- Construction near the new Paul Mitchell School, which

only appears to be complete, has residents and shop owners irritated.

While city planners hasten to assure irate residents that work is not

yet done, the state of the plaza is still causing inconvenience to shop

owners and customers.

Back when the strip mall at 1500 Adams Ave. was home to the old

Edwards Cinema, parking was no problem, said Rick Doria of Doria’s Haus

of Pizza.

Cars parked in front of the pizza shop window, where there was a

handicap ramp leading to several handicap spots, he said.

Now there is an extra-wide sidewalk with a steep curb in front of the

restaurant. And until a temporary spot and ramp were put in this week,

the nearest handicapped spots or ramps were at either end of plaza.

“The curb is twice as high as it was, and there is no access ramp,”

said Sandra Masino, a concerned College Park resident who takes her

elderly neighbors to the restaurant for dinner every two weeks. “When we

were there, we saw, like, three other groups of elderly people who

couldn’t park near the restaurant and couldn’t get up the curb.”

Doria said he has about a dozen letters from patrons complaining about

the situation -- some who say that after years of eating there, they

won’t go back now.

He said he has other visitors who have had to park across the street

by Vons and the Hollywood Video store, and he fears they are jaywalking

and endangering themselves.

“They have built a really nice center that no one can get to,” said

Doria, who added that he understands what property owner Tom Sparks is

trying to do.

Still, he shakes his head over the way it is being done.

Burt Morgan, a Costa Mesa planner, asked that residents and shop

owners alike just bear with them.

While the site now meets minimum state requirements, with the addition

of a temporary ramp and handicap spot, there will be more there when the

job is done, he said.

“What you’re seeing out there now is not what you’ll see when it’s

done,” Morgan said. “What people are seeing is not the finished product.

The final product isn’t here yet, but it will be. We know basically what

[owner Tom Sparks’] plan is and ask for everyone to be patient.”

Morgan said he expects construction to be complete in 30 to 45 days.