Take your RV and park it -- elsewhere

Andrew Glazer

MESA DEL MAR -- Nearly every ranch home in the neighborhood has a view of

a well-watered lawn, pruned rose bushes and a big ol’ motor home.

And while most neighbors in Mesa Del Mar seem to enjoy the green grass

and pretty pink roses, not everyone agrees that Winnebagos, Fleetwoods

and Southwinds belong here.

“We just don’t like to look out our windows and see them there,” said

Michael Dilsisian, who owns a home on Lorenzo Avenue.

Dilsisian and several other residents complained last week about the

motor homes at a Mesa Del Mar Homeowners Assn. meeting.

And in the last few weeks, Dilsisian has called every City Council

member, urging them to crack down on what he describes as lax,

unenforceable parking laws.

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Kevin Lovelady said the department’s traffic

bureau gets more calls about parked motor homes than any other complaint.

The Costa Mesa Police Department requires motor home owners to move their

vehicles at least a quarter-mile every three days. But officers typically

won’t seek out errant RVs, Lovelady said.

Newport Beach prohibits drivers from parking any vehicle longer than 22

feet on residential streets. And in Huntington Beach, owners of motor

homes longer than 25 feet can park only on residential streets while

loading and unloading their vehicles.

“I like the fact that we have more freedom here than in other cities,”

said Councilman Joe Erickson, who attended the meeting. “You can paint

your house whatever color you want and put up a basketball hoop without

breaking a city ordinance.”

Wayne Anderson, 66, who lives on Junipero Drive and bought a 36-foot

Cruise Air just two weeks ago, said his neighbors should live and let

live.

On Tuesday, he and his son, Dave, 40, wiped dust off the dashboard in

preparation for a summer trip to Missouri.

“If they want a sterile place to live, why don’t they move to Irvine or

Newport Beach?” he said, swearing that he held the same opinion two weeks

ago. “If you’ve got a well-kept RV, like this one, there’s nothing to

complain about.”

Erickson said he would be happy to look again at the city’s ordinances --

the issue comes up every few years -- but is in no rush to do away with

the motor homes.

He said he expects the issue will appear on the City Council agenda very

soon.

Kelly Wilcox, 21, who lives near Anderson, said it can’t be soon enough.

On Tuesday, only one motor home was parked on her block -- two fewer than

on the neighborhood streets. But the Orange County Fair, coming in July,

draws RVs from all over, turning the neighborhood into a virtual trailer

park each summer, she said.

“It just looks rundown,” said Wilcox, as she dried wine glasses in her

home. “I wouldn’t want to raise a child here. I definitely wouldn’t want

them to see this.”