OCC swap meet gained previous city approval

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- As recently as two years ago, city planners visited the

Orange Coast College swap meet and found that it complied with all city

requirements, a city document shows.

In a letter dated June 8, 2000, Senior City Planner Willa

Bouwens-Killeen notified the Coast Community College District that the

swap meet’s permit was due for review and stated that “staff inspected

the site on [June 6, 2000].”

“The property was found to satisfy the conditions of approval of the

subject permit and to be in compliance will all applicable ordinance

requirements,” the letter stated.

City planners had not received any complaints regarding the property,

the letter further stated.

Bouwens-Killeen was out of the office Tuesday and could not be reached

for comment. Mike Robinson, the city planning and development manager,

did not return calls Tuesday.

The letter is a stark contrast to recent claims that the campus swap

meet has grown to an unruly size without the city’s knowledge.

“Obviously, [the letter] was an inaccurate representation,” City

Manager Allan Roeder said Tuesday. “As of two years ago, it was pretty

clear that [the campus swap meet] was operating both Saturday and

Sunday.”

The original permit for the swap meet was granted in 1984 and

authorized 275 vendors on Sundays only. The shopping venue has

practically doubled its size in the last 18 years and -- until recently

-- showcased 400 to 500 vendors on each weekend day.

Roeder said he does not know what kind of site visits or inspections

the Planning Department performed in 2000 and said the city shared the

responsibility in monitoring the venue’s growth.

“We issued the permit, and we should have been actively enforcing it,”

Roeder said.

Assistant City Planner Wendy Shih said it is regular practice for the

city to check sites, but that the swap meet issue was “difficult because

it is on a weekend.” Shih said she had no record of the letter and could

not comment on whether the swap meet was visited in June 2000.

City planners did visit the site in November after an apparent

increase in traffic along Fairview Road prompted a city study. The study

found that the swap meet operates with an excess of about 200 vendors and

an additional day not authorized by the city in the original 1984 permit.

In March, city officials notified the college that the campus swap

meet was violating the school’s agreement with the city, and college

officials quickly agreed to comply by scaling back. The swap meet will

meet on Sundays only and with less than 275 vendors starting this

weekend.

Jim McIlwain, vice president of administrative services for OCC, said

the swap meet has operated on both weekend days with nearly 400 vendors

for more than 15 years. During that time, city planners would send

letters similar to the one dated June 8, 2000. College officials believed

the city was completely satisfied with the swap meet.

“The only thing we know is that the city would periodically review our

permit, and it was renewed on every occasion,” McIlwain said.

McIlwain said the college and the swap meet will apply to the city for

a redesigned swap meet to operate on both weekend days. College attorneys

will start the application process within the week, he said.

City and college officials will continue to work together to come up

with a solution that will work for everyone, McIlwain said.

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

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

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