OCC swap meet kept on hold

Lolita Harper

The devil is in the details, city leaders said this week as they

dealt, once again, with the Orange Coast College swap meet, which

they have vowed not to endorse until a technical parking proposal is

presented.

“I am not going to buy off on this until I see a traffic

management proposal,” Councilwoman Libby Cowan said Monday.

Her council colleagues echoed her sentiment, saying it was traffic

congestion that spurred the closure of a Saturday swap meet and that

no meticulous traffic models were being offered to convince city

leaders to return the venue to full weekend operation.

Swap meet vendors have been running a Sunday-only swap meet for

almost eight months, since college officials agreed to scale back its

operations because of traffic problems on Fairview Road.

In that time, city and college officials have worked together, a

private consultant was hired, options were proposed to the Planning

Commission and a new swap meet was approved with an average of 260

vendors per day.

Then, an eleventh-hour appeal by resident Paul Wilbur brought the

swap meet under the intense scrutiny of the City Council and prompted

more questions and criticism.

That scrutiny continued during Monday’s council study session of

the swap meet.

Cowan expressed concern about the college’s willingness to “fix”

the problem, saying she was impressed with preliminary plans on paper

but has yet to see any actual improvement.

“I saw no one there prepared to do any kind of traffic directing

or control,” Cowan said. “Seems to me that in this period when

someone is wanting something, they would go head over heels to make

sure traffic didn’t back up on Fairview.”

College officials did not speak up during Monday’s study session

and could not be reached for comment Wednesday about the council’s

various demands for approval.

While the major concern revolved around traffic management,

Councilmen Chris Steel and Allan Mansoor had more general concerns

about swap meet operations.

Steel insisted college officials verify the legal residence and

state tax numbers of all vendors. He suspects many college swap meet

vendors are taking away clients from “legitimate” Costa Mesa

businesses because they can offer lower prices by skirting various

laws.

“I know there is a lot of concern that our businesses are being

undermined by possible vendors who are not legal residents,” Steel

said. “Some people may not have tax licenses, either. I want to know

who they are and what they are selling.”

Mansoor asked officials to reserve the possibility of changing the

venue from a flea-market-type swap meet to a farmer’s market or art

fair.

Other venues generally cost more money to participate in, would

attract fewer vendors and in turn generate less traffic, Mansoor

argued. The more upscale shopping site would also “draw people from a

wider base.”

And instead of those who just come to the swap meet from Fairview

Road-- which runs directly into Santa Ana -- Mansoor said he hoped a

farmer’s market would attract residents from Newport Beach or Garden

Grove.

Tough questions did not come solely from council members.

Resident Mike Barrie wanted to know why the swap meet was being

treated differently from other city businesses that are required to

pay trip fees and taxes.

Barrie said the council needed to take a hard look at the benefits

of the swap meet for the people of Costa Mesa, not for those who come

from out of town to sell wares or for shoppers who travel from

outside the city limits.

The council is scheduled to discuss, and possibly make a decision

on, the swap meet’s future at its Monday meeting.

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

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