Mobilizing City Hall opposition

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- Parking at City Hall tonight might be a little tough, as

dozens of Costa Mesa motor home owners plan to mobilize a campaign to

protest the city’s ban on recreational vehicles.

One flier being circulated calls for recreational vehicle owners to

“really make a statement” and drive their motor homes to the meeting to

take up parking.

Bill Folsom, a mechanic for the city who uses his motor home as his

primary method of transportation, has passed out more than 200 fliers in

an attempt to raise awareness about the council’s actions to ban the

parking of motor homes on residential streets.

“I’m hoping to be presently surprised by the turn out. I know of at

least 20 people who will be there,” Folsom said.

On Dec. 17, council members voted 4 to 1 -- with Councilman Gary

Monahan dissenting -- to follow neighboring Newport Beach’s lead and ban

recreational and commercial vehicles from parking on residential streets.

Monahan said he did not support the ordinance because he agreed with

various speakers who said Costa Mesa is great because of its character

and individuality.

“I don’t like the road we are going down,” Monahan said.

Preliminary approval of the ordinance was given at the last meeting and

tonight the council is expected to adopt it officially.

The new law provides a 24-hour exception if the owners are loading or

unloading their vehicle, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Carl Schuler said.

Schuler said “the majority of enforcement action originates from

resident complaints.” The Police Department receives about 30 to 40

complaint calls every weekend, mostly reports of unsightliness but some

about possible dangers stemming from not being able to see around the

large vehicles.

Mesa del Mar resident David Stiller does not own a recreational

vehicle but has helped hand out fliers anyway. He said the law currently

on the books, which allows parking for no more than 72 hours, is adequate

if enforced properly.

The council’s action borders on elitism and singles out a group of

people who have every right to use a public road, he said.

A person who owns a motor home has paid a fee to the state and taxes

to use roadways and should have the same right to drive on the roads as

anyone else, Stiller said.

“But now the city is proposing an ordinance to take away the rights of

certain people, simply because they own an RV,” Stiller said. “They are

creating violators out of people who have every right to own a motor

home.”

In an e-mail from Schuler to Stiller, the police lieutenant explains

the police department has a 24-hour hotline to field complaints about

illegally parked vehicles. Officers check the messages and respond

accordingly, Schuler wrote. According to the e-mail, the Police

Department has not maintained a record of the number of complaints

received, the number of citations issued, the people complaining or the

reasons for their complaint.

As to the dangers that large vehicles present, no records have been

kept about the numbers of accidents caused by recreational vehicles

parked on residential streets, but Schuler recalled an accident last week

where a police report listed that a motor home blocked the view of a

driver.

“This collision most likely would not [have] occurred if the RV was

not parked where it was,” Schuler wrote.

Without current statistics citing actual dangers, Stiller doesn’t

believe the city has made its case to ban motor homes altogether.

“You simply don’t disadvantage a class of people without a

demonstrable reason for doing so,” Stiller said.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .