Sidewalks

Costa Mesa City Council members want to move forward with the long-delayed project to add sidewalks to Broadway, despite the concerns of city staffers and some homeowners. Council members voted in June 2006 to include money for the project in the annual budget, but some residents have objected to giving away some of their property for the sidewalks. “There was a long discussion [at a council meeting Tuesday] about requirements under the ADA, which requires the installation of access ramps on sidewalk corners,” Councilwoman Katrina Foley said.

What’s your stance on the proposal to install sidewalks on Broadway?   It boils down to safety. Sidewalks will make it safer for kids to walk to the library or visit neighbors without having to go into the street. Allan Mansoor Costa Mesa mayor Happy children skipping to school on paved sidewalks is the ideal situation. School-bound youngsters meandering in the street and romping across lawns is not the safest idea. Yet the latter is the way it has been for many years on Broadway and on other city streets.

COSTA MESA - City officials say miscommunication with contractors hired to repair Mesa Verde sidewalks and streets led them to mistakenly remove a resident's old tree. "We remove trees causing damage, and we do contact property owners [beforehand]," said Costa Mesa City Engineer Ernesto Munoz. "It just happens to be an unfortunate incident. " City officials agreed to leave the Brazilian pepper tree alone at the homeowner's request two weeks before to the July 26 incident, but it somehow stayed on the list of trees slated for removal.

Costa Mesa residents will soon get a peek at major infrastructure projects scheduled for the Eastside. Residents will hear from city officials on $6.3 million in improvements slated for an area between east 15th and 21st streets, and Irvine Avenue and Newport Boulevard. The work will include redoing pavement, fixing damaged curbs, gutters and sidewalks, and replacing some asphalt sidewalks and driveways with concrete. The construction is funded by the city's Measure M and gas tax revenues.

Deirdre Newman If the city is encouraging its residents to clean up their properties, it should also take care of its own. That's the attitude that inspired the City Council to approve a community garden on a vacant dirt lot at the corner of Charle and Hamilton streets in December 2001. But more than a year later, the dirt lot is still there, and councilwoman Libby Cowan wants to know why it's taking the city so long to spiff the place up. "It seems to me that something should be happening out there," Cowan said at Monday's meeting.

Alicia Robinson Council members pruned the city's controversial tree policy Tuesday night, giving the city manager final say over "problem trees." The hotly debated revisions, adopted Tuesday, pleased those who say it takes too long to remove trees that are ripping up sidewalks. But environmentalists fear it will give the city free rein to rip up trees. City Manager Homer Bludau now has final authority to remove "problem" trees and in some cases trees with 24-inch root bases will be used to replace larger trees that are removed.

There used to be four bike shops in Balboa that rented the surreys, and we fought to rid the town of them then. We were so happy when they left us with only one shop on the oceanfront boardwalk with surrey rentals. Families can rent bikes from the large supply of all family members’ sizes, including tandem bikes. There is no need for the surreys. The multi-use on the boardwalk has become out of control with bikes, Segways, surreys, skateboarders, runners, families with strollers and walkers.

June Casagrande NEWPORT BEACH -- Either small-business owners will have to sandbag and wet-vacuum their sidewalks every time they hose them down or else the city is going to have to suck it up and pay the cost of living with some tough new water-quality rules. According to rules proposed by the city's water-quality board, it soon could be illegal for small-business owners to hose down sidewalks in front of their shops unless they find a way to catch the water and keep it out of the storm drains.

Alex Coolman BALBOA PENINSULA--Cyndi Doran has never thought of herself as a tree-hugger. But the Balboa Peninsula resident has become part of a campaign to save a row of ficus trees on Main Street. And even if she's not actively hugging the towering greenery, she's giving it a virtual squeeze with a campaign of e-mailadvocacy. This is "the only beautiful aspect we have left" on the Peninsula, she wrote in a recent e-mail to Councilman Tod Ridgeway.

I have never been known to be a tree hugger. I am what you might call a bottom-line business type. But making sure we have trees in our community, and especially our parkways — that 5-foot strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street — makes a lot of sense to me. An environmentalist might tell you that the value of the trees is that they absorb the carbon dioxide in the air. CO2 is that very deadly greenhouse gas that comes from...

Costa Mesa residents will soon get a peek at major infrastructure projects scheduled for the Eastside. Residents will hear from city officials on $6.3 million in improvements slated for an area between east 15th and 21st streets, and Irvine Avenue and Newport Boulevard. The work will include redoing pavement, fixing damaged curbs, gutters and sidewalks, and replacing some asphalt sidewalks and driveways with concrete. The construction is funded by the city's Measure M and gas tax revenues.

COSTA MESA — The City Council will discuss its five-year financial forecast Tuesday, and true to the council majority's word, the proposal is heavy in capital spending. Costa Mesa is scheduled to spend about $7.8 million over the next five years on alleys, streets and sidewalks, and $2.5 million on upgrading local sports fields. The forecast, however, doesn't show any funding for library improvements or planting trees. The report is preliminary and can be adjusted as city revenues ebb and flow.

Sidewalk, curb and gutter repair work began last week in Corona del Mar along Goldenrod Avenue, the first part of a four-month project that will begin in the Flower streets and stretch to Newport Coast. The project began Monday and is scheduled to be completed by May 9, said Tara Finnigan, a Newport Beach city spokeswoman. The city's website states that construction costs will be $433,950. The work will replace sidewalks, curbs, gutters and cross gutters, including construction of curb access ramps for wheelchair access to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the website.

COSTA MESA - City officials say miscommunication with contractors hired to repair Mesa Verde sidewalks and streets led them to mistakenly remove a resident's old tree. "We remove trees causing damage, and we do contact property owners [beforehand]," said Costa Mesa City Engineer Ernesto Munoz. "It just happens to be an unfortunate incident. " City officials agreed to leave the Brazilian pepper tree alone at the homeowner's request two weeks before to the July 26 incident, but it somehow stayed on the list of trees slated for removal.

NEWPORT BEACH — When the federal government doles out grants to help low- and moderate-income individuals, it has to make an exception for a city like Newport Beach. The majority of households here earn more than $80,000, and there are few pockets with people of even average means. So when the City Council approved its annual Community Development Block Grant funding this week, more than half the funds were able to pay for decorative sidewalks, street furniture, landscaping and other street improvements.

I have never been known to be a tree hugger. I am what you might call a bottom-line business type. But making sure we have trees in our community, and especially our parkways — that 5-foot strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street — makes a lot of sense to me. An environmentalist might tell you that the value of the trees is that they absorb the carbon dioxide in the air. CO2 is that very deadly greenhouse gas that comes from...

Corona del Mar Plaza’s sidewalk sale kicks off the holiday shopping season today through Sunday. Throughout the weekend, Jack’s Surfboards will offer up to 50% discount on select items. Jewels by Joseph will offer a free in-store inspection and jewelry cleaning, plus a free polishing cloth; UNA will be promoting its amazing Michelle Scarf. Customers can buy one scarf at 15% off, two at 20% off, or three scarves at 30% off the regular price. At Bikini and Diane’s Beachwear, save up to 50% off select designer items such as Juicy Couture and Splendid; (and mention Black Friday Special, and receive 20% off all day today)

A wrongful death claim filed against Newport Beach blames a hole in a grassy public area for the death of an 83-year-old man who flipped his motorized scooter there. In a claim filed against the city in September, Sharon Neben Fogg, of San Diego, alleges that the hole in a patch of grass in the 400 block of Narcissus Avenue caused former Corona del Mar resident Marvin Neben, 83, to die after falling there April 25. The relationship between Fogg and Neben remained unclear. Filing a claim is the first step in filing a lawsuit against the city.

There used to be four bike shops in Balboa that rented the surreys, and we fought to rid the town of them then. We were so happy when they left us with only one shop on the oceanfront boardwalk with surrey rentals. Families can rent bikes from the large supply of all family members’ sizes, including tandem bikes. There is no need for the surreys. The multi-use on the boardwalk has become out of control with bikes, Segways, surreys, skateboarders, runners, families with strollers and walkers.

What could Costa Mesa’s Paul Mitchell fashion school have done to warrant 150 of its characteristically black-clad students standing outside its building holding signs and banners? What could they be protesting? Those thoughts must have crossed at least a few motorists’ minds on their morning commute Wednesday as they passed by the spectacle on Adams Avenue — at least until they got closer to the building and noticed the students were smiling and the banners they held read “Free Hugs.