Official stresses staircase

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Bob Graham has been told repeatedly by the Costa Mesa City Council, the city’s public services department and fellow commissioners that it’s not a good idea to put up a wall or a staircase at one of the minor entrances to Fairview Park right now, but he’s not satisfied.

Graham wants a staircase to be installed at the end of Canary Drive, where the street dead ends into a steep dirt hill, covered by plants. He says the unpaved path is a safety hazard, and he proposes a wooden staircase to take its place, which he says would cost about $20,000.

“I’ve slipped on it myself. When you’re going up, it’s kind of OK; but going down, if you slip, you’re going to go down on your butt,” Graham said.

The idea has been proposed a handful of times before. Each time, city staff and the City Council have said it would be more prudent to wait until the section of land comes up for master planning in a few years before taking action.

Because of laws requiring access for the disabled, and the unusual topography of the land, a staircase and associated ramp would cost more than $150,000, which the city doesn’t have right now, Public Services Director Peter Naghavi said.

“This is just a minor entrance to the park,” Naghavi said. “If we built it up, it would have to be an elaborate, expensive project that has a lot of implications for the adjacent properties.”

Neighbors have mixed feelings about the proposal. Many have kids who walk or ride their bikes to neighboring Estancia High School, and the path provides them a shortcut.

Also, people who want to walk in the park say the entrance saves them from having to walk an extra half mile on the streets each way.

“If this were closed I would have no choice but to walk around [to the other side of the park],” said neighborhood resident Rosy King as she walked her dog down the dirt hill.

Still, King considers the ramp dangerous and thinks that, in the interest of other people, the path should either be improved or closed off.

Lori Bocancea, who owns the house right next to the ramp, sees the entrance as an annoyance.

“My problem is that I have to clean up everything when people come here at midnight,” she said.

People who drink there at night constantly leave beer bottles, she said.

If city officials won’t put up a staircase, then they should just wall the area off, Bocancea said.

The Parks and Recreation Committee will discuss this item at 6:30 tonight.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.