Proponents want trail idea revisited

Mesa Del Mar residents who favor a proposed bike trail path that was effectively shelved by the Costa Mesa City Council in a 3-2 vote Tuesday are planning to appeal to the council to revisit the issue.

The path, which would connect Fairview Road between Adams Avenue and Baker Street with trails in Newport Beach, has been under consideration since August 2006. It follows what city staffers call a “comprehensive review” of all available routes, though many neighbors said the path would threaten their safety, privacy and property values.

“I’m basically concerned about my family’s safety,” said Mesa Del Mar resident Len Bose. “That’s really the bottom line: I have to be concerned with the protection of my 8-year-old, family and property.”

It was these criticisms, echoed by some of Bose’s neighbors, that prompted the City Council to decline allocating South Coast Air Quality Management District grant money to fund a feasibility study of the project — a study, proponents note with some frustration, that would’ve included efforts to address the concerns of neighbors.

“I have sympathy for these people. If they can make a case and there are legitimate concerns, I would be prepared to change my mind,” Mesa Del Mar resident and path-supporter John Rittenhouse said. “But without this outreach program, their concerns haven’t had a chance to be heard or mitigated.”

Councilwoman Katrina Foley, also a resident of Mesa Del Mar and a trail supporter, agreed.

“Every single council member campaigned on ‘improving and adding bike trails’ in Costa Mesa,” she added. “There is no place in our city, essentially, where you can add bike trails that will not have some adjacent residential use — what we really need to be focusing on is how to lessen their impact.”

Mesa Del Mar Homeowners Assn. members said they would attempt to get the council members to reconsider their decision, and authorize the outreach program so the program could move forward. But it’s not known when they would ask for the appeal.

“I know there’s a [time] limit to bringing something back that’s already been decided, and that we also must provide new information that wasn’t initially considered in order to bring it back,” board member Maureen DiDomenico said. “So, as a group, we’re going to have to look at that.”

As far as Bose is concerned, that’s fine, but his concerns still stand.

“I think that’s fair and good,” he said. “If you believe that strongly in it, that’s fine; but my concerns stay the same, and I’ll be at the meeting again to express them.”

CHRIS CAESAR may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at chris.caesar@latimes.com.