Feb. 17--The Costa Mesa City Council voted Tuesday to close four walkways along a busy Westside thoroughfare that neighbors say conceal and attract illegal activity.
The council's 4-0 vote, with Councilwoman Katrina Foley absent, allows the city to seal portions of a sound wall along Victoria Street that enable pedestrians to access Raleigh and Wallace avenues, Miner Street and Meyer Place.
Residents who asked for the closures argued that the passages help cover up drug use and public urination and attract graffiti, according to city staff. A city-sponsored survey of people who live near the openings showed that a majority of respondents favored their closure.
"When you go to these and you see what's happening, there's no way you can allow it to happen," said Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer. He said some people who use the openings leave hollowed-out apples, used to smoke marijuana, on the ground.
"You'll find them there right now. Go look," he said.
The council also decided to seal a pedestrian opening in the Mesa North neighborhood that opens onto Fairview Road from Dorset Lane. One resident described it as a "real hellhole" for crime. Nineteen of 21 respondents to the city's survey approved of that closure.
Mayor Steve Mensinger said having pedestrian openings into residential neighborhoods from major streets like Victoria "was a poor design to begin with."
Councilwoman Sandy Genis said closing the spaces will help curb some "random" criminal activity, but it won't be a "panacea."
The council voted against closing two similar walkways on Victoria, one near Victoria Elementary School and another near the Placentia Avenue intersection.
Several speakers favored keeping the opening near Victoria Elementary because children and their parents use it to get to the campus.
Longtime Westside resident Barrie Fisher said some warned decades ago that having the walkways would bring "unintended consequences."
"We were talking about this becoming an issue 25 years ago," Fisher said. "We've dealt with it every day since then."
Miner Street resident John Levere was among those who spoke against closing the walkways. He argued it would lead to a more restrictive neighborhood and, consequently, closed-off neighbors.
"When we start closing the doors, we don't see our neighbors anymore," Levere said.
Tuesday's vote came less than a year after the closure of three other access points along Victoria Street -- at Raleigh, Puente and Sterling avenues -- was approved.
Funding has yet not been approved for any of the closures, including the three OKd last year.
City staff will request money for the projects this summer. Each closure is estimated to cost $16,000.
