Residents stand in defense of Balearic Park

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- Newport-Mesa school board members on Tuesday were

inundated with pleas from Costa Mesa residents who begged them not to

sell Balearic Park.

“We’ve only begun to fight,” said Fran Hill, a Costa Mesa resident who

lives next to the park. “We’re in this for the long haul.”

John Kelly, who lives in the neighborhood with his wife and two small

children, presented to the board a petition with more than 725 signatures

and said there were more to come.

“In the last two and a half years, a lot of young families have moved

into the area,” Kelly said.

Kelly, who sells real estate in the area, said that in those two and a

half years, he has sold 34 homes in the Balearic Park area.

Off the top of his head, Kelly counted 12 children under the age of eight

who had moved into the neighborhood in the last nine months alone.

The park is a 9.25-acre lot, owned by the school district, which serves

as a neighborhood park. It features soccer fields and a new playground.

For more than 22 years, the city of Costa Mesa’s recreation department

has run a community and day-care center at Balearic Park.

Residents became alarmed two weeks ago when the school board heard a

citizen committee’s recommendation to sell the park.

The committee, responsible for examining Newport-Mesa’s crumbling schools

and finding a way to fund the needed repairs, suggested selling the park

and another district-owned property to fund future upkeep and maintenance

of schools.

“I recommend that the board repair schools that need to be repaired, but

not at the expense of Balearic Park,” Hill said.

If the district does decide to sell the property, the city of Costa Mesa

will be given the first opportunity to buy the land. Although Costa Mesa

City Councilman Joe Erickson assured residents, at a neighborhood meeting

last week, that the city was interested, many still fear the land may be

sold to developers.

“It’s not a matter of funding -- it’s a matter of priority,” said

resident Martha O’Meare.

O’Meare suggested the district take another look at the study it

conducted of the area in 1995, when it declared the site surplus, saying

the demographics of the neighborhood had changed.

Not only has the area experienced a recent influx of young couples and

families, she said, but there is also the new development at Mesa Verde

East and Adams Street, as well as children attending private schools, to

consider.

Yet another area resident, Joe Panerisi, beseeched the board to retain

the park, adding an invitation to all to visit the park so that they

might understand how popular it is with members of the community.

Residents then received an invitation in return.

District Supt. Robert Barbot invited all the residents to attend a study

session at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Education Center, at which the board

would be discussing possible funding options for facilities repairs,

including the potential sale of district properties.