A question of access on Canary Drive

Lolita Harper

MESA VERDE -- For nearly two decades, residents surrounding Fairview

Park have been concerned about the number of people that may flock to

their neighborhoods and disrupt their quality of life.

People on Canary Drive are no exception.

Concerned residents on the cul-de-sac street in Mesa Verde say they

are trying to protect their neighborhood street from an influx of cars

and people by supporting limited access to Fairview Park from Canary

Drive.

Instead of a ramp, or a large entrance to the 91.7-acre park,

residents are hoping the council will approve a staircase and a

landscaped wall.

“It’s not even limited access,” said Councilwoman Karen Robinson, who

lives on Canary Drive. “It’s a public entrance that won’t be any

different than it is now. It’ll just be safer with stairs instead of

dirt.”

City Manager Allan Roeder said residents feared a ramp would encourage

people from outside of the area to park their cars on Canary Drive to get

to the park.

“They just don’t want it to be an area where there are a lot of

automobiles and parking up and down the street. They were worried about

it turning into a main gate to the park,” Roeder said.

But Bob Graham, a resident who recently gave an informational tour of

Fairview Park, said Robinson and her fellow neighbors are portraying an

elitist attitude.

“Basically, they don’t want anyone -- except the people on their

street -- to go to their park,” Graham said. “Nobody can think beyond

themselves, even those who are charged with thinking for the whole city.”

Robinson strongly disagreed with Graham’s allegation.

“It’s not about trying to keep the park private,” Robinson said.

There are seven entrances to the park, Graham said. The proposed

stairs at the end of the street would not only limit access to many

residents but completely deny access to people in wheelchairs or those

pushing strollers, Graham said.

The lack of the ramp at Canary Drive is not a violation of the

Americans with Disabilities Act because the park has wheelchair access at

the main entrance, Roeder said.

“Even if they meet the letter of the law, the spirit of the law has

been totally violated,” Graham said, noting that the closest wheelchair

access is about a half-mile away.

Roeder admitted that resident concern was one of the reasons a ramp

was not proposed at the end of Canary, but contends a more pressing

economical factor was behind the city’s decision, he said.

The city discovered major utility and high pressure power lines under

the slope that leads into the park, Roeder said. To be able to build a

ramp there, the city must relocate the lines, which would be expensive,

he said.

The city bought Fairview Park from the county in 1984 because

surrounding residents were concerned with the county’s plan for the land,

Roeder said. The county’s master plan was too intense for the residents,

he said, with an activity level comparable to Mile Square Park.

More than 15 years later -- although drastically scaled down from the

original plans -- the level of activity is still a concern, Roeder said.

If a compromise cannot be reached, access to the park from Canary may

be denied to everyone, Roeder said.

“Fairview Park is a community park, not a neighborhood park. There is

no way to have resident access only,” he said. “How do you -- or do you

-- provide some pedestrian access if it’s not open for access to the

larger public?”

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .