Building blocks

Lolita Harper

Hurdles are not unfamiliar to the Anderson-Davis family.

The nine children who live in the family’s Mesa North home are all

developmentally disabled and face them daily, during routine tasks.

Tonya has been learning to make her bed for four years. She is 12.

David is still learning to dress himself. He is 9.

Alexander just graduated from diapers. He is 8.

Parents Greta Anderson-Davis and Scott Davis do not suffer from

developmental disabilities, but they also face huge stumbling blocks

in obtaining services, medication and schooling for their special

children.

“Everything in our life is a fight,” Anderson-Davis said. “We have

to fight to adopt our kids, we have to fight for their schools, and

we have to fight to build onto our home. It’s exhausting.”

The family requested a 950-square-foot second-story addition to

its Madison Avenue home that would house a master bedroom suite and a

game room. The proposed plans garnered the approval of the city’s

zoning administrator, Perry Valantine, but hit a road block when

opposing neighbors appealed his decision to the Planning Commission.

The family successfully crossed its second hurdle Monday, as the

Planning Commission unanimously upheld Valantine’s decision but

halted their stride Tuesday after learning of a second appeal to the

City Council.

Councilman Chris Steel appealed the Planning Commission’s decision

late Tuesday afternoon because he was concerned about upholding the

integrity of the neighborhood, Planning Department officials said.

The proposed addition would create a two-story, eight-bedroom,

3,982-square-foot home that neighbors say is too big for the

surrounding neighborhood. But Anderson-Davis said she and her husband

are just like any other large family that wants more space to live.

She blames the resistance on prejudice toward her challenged

children.

“If these kids were normal, nobody would bat an eye,”

Anderson-Davis said.

Neighbor Stan Brown, who filed the initial appeal, said it has

nothing to do with the children, except that two of them live in the

house as clients of a business.

“We have nothing against the children -- I think it’s a wonderful

thing that she does take care of them -- but I think it is also

excessive to keep increasing a licensed business in a [low-density

residential] zone,” Brown said.

Anderson-Davis confirmed she holds a “small family home” business

license that enables her to provide care and services to children

whose parents voluntarily board them there. She said her business

differs from a group home because her license requires the children

be under the care of a “mother and father,” not merely 24-hour

staffers. Anderson-Davis employs three staffers to help with the

daily chores of raising nine disabled children.

“Show me any mother of nine kids who have the mental capacity of

18-month-and 5-year-olds, who wouldn’t need help,” Anderson-Davis

said.

Resident Christina Christiansen said she opposed the addition

because the resulting home would be out of character with the

surrounding neighborhood. The average home in Mesa North has about

four bedrooms, she said, and Anderson-Davis’ home already has seven.

The proposed addition would double the neighborhood average for

bedrooms.

“A building that is twice the size of surrounding homes is not

compatible,” Christiansen said.

“Have you ever been inside the home?” Planning Commission

Chairwoman Katrina Foley asked Christiansen.

“No.”

“Then how did you know it had seven bedrooms?” Foley asked,

pointing out that house’s mass is not visibly apparent from the

street.

“I knew from the last time they remodeled,” Christiansen answered.

Foley said the commission is not concerned with the number of

bedrooms or the intricacies of the business license. The only issue

the commission needed to worry about was the potential effect on the

surrounding neighborhood, which she deemed was none.

Planning Commissioner Eleanor Egan agreed.

“It is not up to the Planning Commission to regulate people’s

lifestyles or how many kids they can have,” Egan said. “It meets all

the [city’s development] guidelines.”

Anderson-Davis could add even more children to the household and

still be in compliance with state laws, even without the second-story

addition, Planning Commissioner Bruce Garlich added.

If her goal was motivated by profits, Anderson-Davis could pack

more kids in, but she wouldn’t do that because the children are her

family and she wants them to have the best, she said.

“Adopt them and take some of the pressure off me,” Anderson-Davis

told the audience at the meeting. “Open your hearts and your doors.”

She has invited neighbors to come into her home to see what kind

of a household she runs. None have accepted her offer so far, she

said.

“They want to keep their blinders on and keep their tunnel vision

of what they think this house is,” Anderson-Davis said. “They don’t

want to know the truth that we are a family.”

If they were to visit, they would most likely be greeted by

8-year-old Kenyon, whose big brown eyes are magnified by his

dark-rimmed glasses. He would limp over -- both legs are in braces

because of cerebral palsy -- and ask, “You wanna play game?”

Once past the unofficial welcome wagon, the house offers a variety

of activities, from games in the playroom to reading time in the

library. Outside, a full playground can be found, complete with a

large trampoline.

Each bedroom is individually themed for the kids and is equipped

with a VCR for bedtime videos.

“My kids have to have structure; that’s how they function,”

Anderson-Davis said. “So every night before they go to bed, they each

watch a video. That way, they know it’s time to wind down.”

Alexander, 8, would be found at his mother’s side. He is a momma’s

boy, Anderson-Davis explained. After a few minutes, the autistic boy

would “zone out” with his eyes fixated on some far off target.

Anderson-Davis leaned over and whispered in his ear.

“Alex,” she said in a soft voice.

No response.

“Isn’t it wonderful? He’s just in his own place right now,” she

would say. “I love autistic children.”

A tender kiss on the neck would bring Alexander back to the

“normal” world.

Kenyon would come rushing back in, this time with his padded blue

helmet on to protect him from a deadly head injury. The former

crack-baby has a shunt and must wear the helmet to play like a normal

kid.

“Wanna play game?” he asked before running back into the playroom.

There is never a dull moment at the Madison Avenue house,

Anderson-Davis said, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Our kids are our life,” she said. “I don’t know what we would do

without them.”

Although her children take precedence in nearly every aspect of

her life, Anderson-Davis admits the second-story addition is a

selfish request.

“The addition is for us,” Anderson-Davis said. “The kids have the

whole house; my husband and I just want some space for ourselves.”

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

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