Fairview owl has friends in high places

Lolita Harper

One small owl, which has chosen Fairview Park as its winter

get-a-way, has ruffled a few feathers at City Hall.

A lone burrowing owl -- a small bird native to the treeless, short

grass country of North America -- retreats to the east side of

Fairview Park from December to March and vacations in an abandoned

squirrel hole, environmental documents show.

Who gives a hoot? Plenty of people, including state environmental

officials, whose opinion carried considerable weight with the City

Council. Because of the bird’s part-time presence, the council erased

a proposed dog park, botanical garden and pond from the Fairview Park

master plan.

In a letter, state Department of Fish and Game officials warned

the city that the three proposed projects could be a detriment to the

burrowing owl. Instead of spending the money to evaluate and study

what kind of effect a pond, dog park and botanical garden might have,

the council deleted the items entirely.

Council members also brazenly denied consideration for a skate

park on the east end of the park, which had been circulated as a

possible venue.

The owl forced city leaders to take a decisive action on the

91.7-acre piece of land, which has been the topic of debate for

almost five years.

The Fairview Park master plan was adopted in Dec. 15, 1997. Since

then, numerous aspects of the plan, including proposals for paved

trails, parking structures, a cultural museum, botanical gardens and

the railroad, have been debated in City Hall.

City leaders have spent hours in the last few years reviewing

questionable items, holding public hearings and hiring experts to

conduct community workshops.

But all those hours of work, all the input gathered from residents

-- who overwhelmingly supported a skateboard park, a dog park and the

model railroad at Fairview-- failed to compete with one burrowing owl

that swayed the council.

Although it is not considered rare, the burrowing owl could become

endangered because of its preference for uncultivated land, which is

becoming increasingly rare in Southern California, fish and game

documents read. The owl also lives in “used” homes of other animals

and depends on the survival of squirrels, badgers, woodchucks, foxes,

skunks and armadillos.

Mayor Linda Dixon said the city needs to protect scarce species

and was pleased that some compromises could be worked out with the

Orange County Model Railroad engineers. Dixon voted against axing the

dog park, saying Thursday she would have rather seen it moved to

another part of the park.

The decision did not sit well with those wanting to see additions

to Fairview.

Terry Tyson, a member of the Bark Park Foundation, said the

council had a knee-jerk reaction to the not-so rare owl and was

disappointed that years of planning had gone to waste.

Jim Gray, who is leading the charge for a skate park in Costa

Mesa, said the owl gave the council another excuse to dispense with

skateboarders’ needs. Gray said he was pleased about the city’s plans

for a possible skate park at Davis Elementary, but said the city

needs more than one.

Fairview Park offers the perfect venue, with great access and

plenty of space, he said.

Gray motivated his group, the Skateboard Coalition, to attend the

various Fairview Park community outreach meetings and said he felt

ignored.

“Why did they even pay to have the meetings, when they knew they

were never going to listen to us?” Gray asked. “They might as well

have just saved the taxpayers some money, and forget the fancy

consultants.”

While a skate park was never on the master plan, Councilman Gary

Monahan floated a motion Monday to at least consider it, but none of

his council colleagues supported it.

Gray said council members lack the courage to stand up to a couple

of residents who are deeply opposed to any active use at the park and

enact a plan that is best for all Costa Mesa residents.

“The city should just spend zero money on Fairview Park, because

obviously they are too afraid to really tackle it,” Gray said. “So

just scrap the whole thing and leave it a dirt pit so the 50 people

on Canary Drive can walk their dogs.”