Mobile home can stay on property

Costa Mesa Planning Commission Vice Chairman Donn Hall cast the deciding vote on Monday to allow an aging but renovated mobile home to remain on an Eastside property.

Commissioners Eleanor Egan and Bruce Garlich voted in support of the project. Chairman Bill Perkins and commissioner James Fisler voted against the project.

The 36-year-old mobile home, moved from El Morro Village before it closed to the present site at 2333 Elden Ave. in March, is owned by Susan and James Bollinger.

The property where the home sits now is owned by the Bollinger family.

“I am elated and very pleased that the commission believed in us and in our intentions to do what we said we would do,” Susan Bollinger said after the meeting.

She and her husband moved their home in March because the state plans to turn El Morro Village into a public campground. They were allowed to reapply in May to keep the home where it is, this time with plans that show improvements to be made. As part of the new application, the couple has 37 days to submit plans showing upgrades and explaining how they will make the mobile home appear permanent.

The Bollingers first applied to the city in January to be allowed to keep their home on Elden Avenue. In March, their request was denied, but by that time they had already moved the home to the property. The lot has an existing home.

City planning staff said the home could be a safety hazard, and six neighbors asked that the commission reject the Bollingers’ request. The group of residents are concerned the appearance of the home will lower their property values.