Extreme positions on park grass are cast away

June Casagrande

Seven alternatives for renovating Castaways Park were on the table,

but most speakers came out to support one or the other extreme:

Either keep the park 100% natural as the city had already agreed to

do or make a small portion into a meadow area where people can picnic

and fly kites.

The council instead chose a compromise. A 3/4-acre strip of the

park will be developed with a type of sedge grass that will create a

flat area for picnickers but that still qualifies as native

vegetation. The remainder of the park will be planted with species

that re-create the natural environment that might have existed 200

years ago.

“If we have that strip of sedge for a couple of years, people

might get used to the idea of sedge grass. Then we have the option of

increasing the sedge later and paying back the $150,000,” Councilman

Gary Adams said.

The previous City Council agreed to accept nearly $150,000 in

grants from two environmental organizations to develop the park with

all natural plants that would be maintained to the organizations’

standards for 20 years. Councilman Tod Ridgeway said that the council

would be out of line to renege on the previous council’s agreement.

Councilman Dick Nichols said that the 20-year terms were too daunting

to live with.

“We need to be in control of our parks,” Nichols said. “We need to

be the ones who get to say what should be there.”

The compromise agreement, which was laid out as “Option 2” in the

staff report and which the council approved 4 to 2, will allow the

city to accept the grants. But if, in the future, the city wants to

expand the meadow area by adding more sedge grass, it has the power

to do so as long as it returns the money.

John Heffernan joined Nichols in opposing Option 2, agreeing that

$150,000 is not worth the strings attached to a piece of property

some estimate is worth more than $20 million.

It will cost about $255,000 to develop the park according to this

option, of which the city will pay about $105,000, and the grants

will cover the rest.

Tuesday’s late vote also illustrated an urgent vulnerability of

the six-man council. As the clock ticked past 11 p.m. Tuesday, five

council members had spoken their opinions. Three supported Option 2,

two opposed it. If the remaining councilman, Mayor Steve Bromberg,

had also opposed it, the tie vote would likely have prevented the

city from being able to develop Castaways Park at all. Bromberg

pointed this out before stating his support for Option 2.

“This is why it’s so important that we get that seat filled,”

Bromberg said.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.