Swap meet proposal tries again tonight

Lolita Harper

One man, who says he is acting on behalf of all city residents,

stands in the way of the return of a Saturday swap meet at Orange

Coast College, which he claims the Planning Commission had no right

to approve.

Eastside resident Paul Wilbur demanded a formal public hearing for

tonight when he filed a last-minute appeal of revised campus swap

meet plans, which the Planning Commission unanimously endorsed Oct.

28.

Wilbur, who filed his appeal and a check for the $248 fee five

minutes before the Nov. 4 deadline, said he challenged the previous

approval of the restructured venue because city officials did not

follow proper procedure.

“This is an issue I am taking on for staff because they are too

busy having a love fest and aren’t monitoring the [government

codes],” Wilbur said.

The swap meet, which unknowingly grew to double its permitted size

over the past 20 years, was cut in half in May after city officials

researched traffic complaints on Fairview Road. The flea market-type

shopping venue has been operating at half its previous capacity for

seven months.

Planning commissioners agreed to reopen the swap meet on Saturdays

with an average of 260 vendors per day as long as college officials

worked on a more advanced vendor reservation process and prohibited

parking in the Coast Community College District parking lot, which is

across the street from where the meet is held.

Commissioners also ordered a six-month review to track the

college’s progress.

Wilbur has the uncanny ability to rattle off myriad government

code sections and could quickly recite the precise code he said names

the City Council as the only municipal body with the authority to

grant a business license to the swap meet.

Campus swap meet supporters say Wilbur’s attention to detail is

excessive. While his action may be well intentioned, it may result in

a lean holiday season for many vendors and their families.

The college’s administrative dean of economic development and

community education, George Blanc, who oversees the swap meet, said a

Saturday operation is essential for many merchants for financial

survival. The booming shopping season provides an economic cushion

for the trifling months that generally follow.

“Look at what he is doing to the community and the college,” Blanc

said. “I just pray it will go through.”

While Blanc is looking to the heavens for an increase in holiday

sales, nearby church officials are asserting their own powers to stop

the swap meet’s expansion.

Richard Cook, property and finance director for The Presbyterian

Church of the Covenant, wrote a letter to the city Oct. 23 asking

officials to prohibit the swap meet’s return to Saturdays because of

the parking and litter problems experienced at the church, which is

directly across the street from campus.

“We are not looking forward to the holidays as usual,” Cook wrote.

“Even though the swap meet is only on Sunday, we expect the overnight

campers to still be a problem, as we are just too convenient for

them. We are presently planning to chain our lots so we don’t have to

deal with the mess.”