Legal battle weighs on Westside resident
Lolita Harper
WESTSIDE -- Dave Morley, a modest handyman who works out of his Costa
Mesa home, said he is overwhelmed by a court battle he waged with the
city over a code enforcement citation, but herefuses to back down.
Morley filed an appeal on a code violation in Harbor Municipal Court
in September. Code enforcement officials contend Morley, who lives in the
2000 block of Maple Avenue, illegally converted his garage into a
bedroom.
Six months later, Morley has grown frustrated with the constant delays
and high price of the legal system. Initially concerned with the high
cost of conforming to the city’s request to turn his bedroom back into a
garage, Morley said he has paid about $4,000 in legal fees.
“They are doing nothing but playing ping pong and I’m paying the
bill,” Morley said. “The taxpayers are paying the bill for this city, so
really, I’m paying for it both ways.”
Edwin Richards, outside counsel for the city, said he could not
comment on an ongoing case.
Morley’s lawyer, Jennifer Friend, said the situation is not as grave
as her client may think. She understands Morley’s frustration about his
house being singled out by the city but said a solution is in the works.
“We’re exploring an amicable resolution to the problem that would
allow Mr. Morley to continue to use his property in the manner it has
been used for the past 50 years,” Friend said.
The citation, given in last March, said he must conform to the
regulation by turning what is now his bedroom back into a garage or apply
for the proper permit to turn the garage into a living space and then
build a garage somewhere else on his property.
Morley has said the garage was used as a bedroom even before his
parents bought the house 38 years ago, and that is how his family has
continued to use the space.
If his bedroom were converted back to a garage, Morley said there
would not be enough space in the modest two-bedroom house -- not counting
the garage -- for he, his wife and her two sons.
The outcome of his case not only affects him but various other homes
in his neighborhood, Morley said.
“If the city adheres to what it is saying in my case, 50% of the
houses on my street are illegal,” he said.
The new “proactive citywide code enforcement program” that deemed his
garage illegal went into effect in August 2000. Costa Mesa code
enforcement officers have been walking the streets and targeting the
worst offenders since December.
“This house has always been like this. I shouldn’t be responsible for
what was done more than 20 years ago,” Morley said when he addressed the
council on Sept. 3.
Councilman Gary Monahan agreed.
Monahan said he wanted to propose a process for residents like Morley
who have found themselves the victims of the new proactive codes. The
councilman said he would like to set up a review board where certain
cases could be heard and a resolution could be met without having to go
to court.
In Morley’s case, it is too late.
City Atty. Jerry Scheer said once the issue is taken to the courts,
the City Council no longer has jurisdiction.
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