The owl outsmarts everyone

LOLITA HARPER

Somewhere in the rugged terrain of Fairview Park, there is a little

owl, smokin’ a fat cigar with his little talons propped up on a mole

hill.

“This is the life,” he must be thinking.

The small predator glances around his vacation home, an abandoned

squirrel hole on the east side of Fairview Park, where he spends the

months of December through March, and sighs. Nobody will touch him

here, not as long as the State Fish and Game Department has anything

to say about it.

There is not a soul in sight. No bark park. No skate park. No

soccer fields. No nothing. Every now and then a Mesa Verde homeowner

jogs by with her dog or a small train of pint-sized passengers and

their doting caretakers cruises by, but other than that, he’s got the

whole place to himself.

A 91.7-acre bachelor pad. Welcome to the real Hooters.

Meanwhile, at Costa Mesa City Hall, hundreds of residents are

arguing about playing fields. Some people demand their children have

a place to recreate and others take issue with diapers and balls

flying over their fence. “Everyone plays” soccer pits itself against

the more competitive “club” soccer, saying at least their

organization gives all children a chance to frolic on the field.

Competitive sports enthusiasts scoff at the idea, arguing it is their

children that have a future in soccer or softball -- or whatever --

and they should have the time on the field.

Dog lovers and skate-boarders argue about a small patch of land at

TeWinkle Park, while Mesa del Mar residents oppose any more noise or

fun at the site. Ficus fanatics and their fellow crusaders march on

to save mature trees and softball players cry out for a venue where

their spectators won’t get splinters from sitting on the rotting

bleachers.

Costa Mesa council members, parks and recreation and planning

commissioners all nod their heads, listening intently to each of the

gripes. “We feel your pain,” they say to those who come before them.

And then do their best to please everyone.

As the sun is setting on the beautiful Westside bluffs, and the

cool ocean breeze ruffles its soft little feathers, the burrowing owl

glances east toward City Hall and shakes his head. “Suckers,” he

says.

But some people are on to the owl. People like the daddy of the

skate park movement, Jim Gray, and other practical minds.

“Why are we knocking ourselves out over this spot or that spot

when we have acres and acres of land at Fairview Park?” he said.

Others have expressed the same concern. Planning Commissioner

Katrina Foley suggested “active use” for the east side of Fairview

Park during her City Council campaign in 2002. Fancy that, a park

actually designed for human use, where kids can dribble the soccer

ball, play tag, land a kick-flip and hit a grand slam. Too bad Foley

lost. (But 2004 is just around the corner, right?)

Charles Massingill gets it and he’s all the way over in Newport

Beach. The answer is simple, he said: Build more fields. And where

might the city find a vacant land?

“On the far west side of the city” he said.

A little place called Fairview Park.

“Fairview park is probably the best spot for new lighted soccer,

baseball and softball fields,” he said. “It has the Santa Ana River

on its west side and Estancia High School sports fields to the South.

The unhappy residents and the youth sports groups must work together

to force the city to revisit Fairview Park as a sports complex.”

Hear that? He said “force.” Surely the influential people in

Newport-Mesa can find a way around a little old owl. Come on. There

are no old neighbors to tick off. No trees to uproot. Well, no trees

that are supposed to really be there, considering that the city plans

to spend thousands of dollars to tear out the current vegetation --

which isn’t supposed to be there, according to environmental-

botanical-horticultural studies -- and plant “native plants.”

Capiche? Yeah, me neither.

Sure, the Fairview Park Master Plan was adopted in 1997. It is a

“living document” but what has really been done? Haven’t the needs of

the community changed in the past six years? And since when have

Costa Mesa officials thought twice about revisiting an issue?

Gray, Massingill and those of like minds have their work cut out

for them, that’s for sure. Why? Because the owl -- this tiny little

hooter, native to the treeless, short grass country of North America

-- has got a mob of people who have “got his back.” Naturalists from

the State Department of Fish and Game are ready to go toe-to-toe to

keep this little bird from getting his feathers ruffled. And of

course those who call Fairview Park a gem and want to keep it just

the way it is -- or the way it should be. Or the way it will be after

a $388,000 plan.

Hey, the expansive trails and natural beauty of Fairview Park is

gorgeous and wonderful and breath-taking, etc. But share the wealth,

huh? Keep your gem but knock off a couple of baguettes for those who

would rather grind than get burrs in their socks. There is plenty of

park to go around.

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and

covers culture and the arts. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or

by e-mail at lolita.harper@ latimes.com.