Mailbag - June 9, 2002
I certainly agree with the Pilot’s April 28 editorial about garages
that were converted to bedrooms years before the current owner bought the
property (“Let converted Westside bedroom remain intact”). The plight of
Dave Morley, in being cited for a code violation for having a garage that
was converted to an extra bedroom when he bought his house 38 years ago,
will be shared by many homeowners in Costa Mesa if the city continues to
enforce code violations retroactively.
Since the city apparently was unable to resolve the matter, by grand
fathering this very technical infraction, it was instead handled as a
routine code enforcement problem, in other words as criminal infraction.
This means that Morley, through no fault of his own, was charged with
a crime that was committed 38 years ago, the day the garage was converted
in the first place. This seems not only unfair, but ludicrously so.
Every crime committed in the United States has a time limitation
within which prosecution can be brought. The only exceptions to that are
the most serious violations such as murder, treason and tax fraud. Even
rape, robbery, arson mayhem and crimes of that serious magnitude cannot
be prosecuted more than six years after their commission. How, for
goodness sake, could anyone justify prosecuting Morley 38 years after the
so-called crime was committed, and by someone else.
I think I have the answer. It’s because Costa Mesa city planners have
unrealistically and very unfairly embarked on a program of enforcing code
regulations against persons who may not have committed the violation in
the first place. The legal rationale for statutes of limitations is not
only to be fair to the defendant in requiring timely prosecutions, but to
preserve a certain level of tranquillity in society in not having to deal
with matters that may have occurred many years ago. This type of code
enforcement in Costa Mesa with so many older houses has the potential to
stir up more citizen outrage than motor home parking ever did.
Had they consulted with someone thoroughly versed in a matter of this
kind, it would seem unlikely that Morley would have been cited, required
to hire counsel and presumably spend sleepless nights worried over that
matter. Everyone knows it’s hard to fight City Hall.
The Pilot article piqued my interest because of my background in city
government experience spanning 20 years as a full-time city attorney of
two California cities. I recall on several occasions having to rein in
city planners in my cities when they proposed to do something not
permitted by law. This occasionally led to confrontations, but as one of
my mayors used to say: “That’s why we have a legal department.”
I once delivered a paper on this very subject to the City Attorney
section of the League of California Cities. I can’t recall any city
attorney taking exception to my views on the subject.
Unfortunately, some city officials leave their common sense behind
when they leave private life. The term “badge-heavy” is one every
contractor is painfully aware of. It’s usually associated with building
inspectors -- and also these days with city planners -- who roam the city
to look for something technically awry to raise the devil about.
DON OLSON
Newport Beach
Pastor agrees with columnist on sex education
I want to thank Joseph Bell for his excellent column about the need to
have a much more comprehensive sex education program in our schools and
especially the concern with all of the pregnancies happening in Costa
Mesa (The Bell Curve, “New studies tell troubling tale,” May 16). I agree
totally with him that it’s very naive today to teach abstinence only to
the children in our schools. We need to tell them about different means
of birth control and tell them about the options. We are becoming an
overpopulated community and country and world. I appreciate his column
and hope especially that the Newport-Mesa Unified school board will have
a much more enlightened approach to this important issue.
DENNIS SHORT
Newport Beach
* EDITOR’S NOTE: Dennis Short is the pastor of Harbor Christian Church
in Newport Beach.
Mature trees are needed to replace Marguerite palms
I am sad to read that the city is removing the beautiful palm trees on
Marguerite Street in Corona del Mar, and replacing them with the new,
smaller, and not so beautiful trees (“Newport leaders vote to tear out
trees,” April 25).
I suggest that Donald Bren might want to pay for mature trees and make
the entrance to Corona del Mar as attractive as the entrance to Fashion
Island.
DICK GOLDMAN
Corona del Mar
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.