Residents still piqued by TeWinkle skate park

Deirdre Newman

A chance for Mesa del Mar residents to find out about the next step

in the process to build a skate park at TeWinkle Park turned into a

session for some to rail against the location.

“We’re going to disrupt the beauty and tranquillity in this area

to put in a cement white elephant,” resident John Rittenhouse said.

The City Council approved the skate park in October after skaters

had lobbied for one for more than a decade, only to be frustrated at

nearly every turn.

This week, Public Services Director Bill Morris and Recreation

Manager Jana Ransom met with seven residents of the Mesa del Mar

neighborhood, which surrounds TeWinkle Park.

The purpose of the meeting was to let these residents know that

the City Council will consider Monday whether to rehire the same

company that designed a large portion of the proposed skate park at

Charle and Hamilton streets before that project was abandoned.

Despite their misgivings about the location, many of the Mesa del

Mar residents said they are grateful to be included in the process.

“I think it’s a great start,” said Jeff Wilcox, president of the

area’s homeowners’ association. “It’s what we need to do. It’s what

we asked for. We want some input.”

Tuesday’s meeting is on the heels of a meeting that city and

elected officials held with skate park advocates Jim Gray and Paul

Schmitt in mid-December.

The meetings are unusual in that they focus on an item that is on

the council’s consent calendar, which is reserved for items that are

usually approved without discussion.

But, based on the track record of failed skate parks, the council

is doing everything in its power to make sure that this time, the

process will go smoothly. When it approved the location at TeWinkle

Park, it directed staff to keep all those interested informed of

every step of the process, Morris said.

The parameters for the TeWinkle skate park are to use 15,000

square feet at most and not to remove any trees.

Morris recommends rehiring Purkiss Rose-RSI of Fullerton because

it had completed almost 70% of the design for the Charle and Hamilton

streets location. He estimates the design cost for TeWinkle at about

$50,000. By tweaking the Charle-Hamilton plans, the city would save

spending an additional $30,000, Morris added.

At the meeting, the Mesa del Mar residents raised concerns about

the skate park such as traffic, crime and graffiti and parking.

Wilcox said he would like to see the open sewer on Arlington Drive

taken care of in conjunction with the construction of the skate park.

Morris said the design firm would do an investigation of the area

to see how much parking is needed. He emphasized that the project is

still in the preliminary design stage.

“This is just dipping our toe in the water,” Morris said.

The council will consider rehiring Purkiss Rose-RSI at its meeting

on Monday.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.