Ghost house to live on

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- An East Wilson Avenue house, seasonally decorated to

glorify ghosts and ghouls, will not leave the land of the living after a

city decision to allow the show to carry on.

Costa Mesa code enforcement officials decided this week to allow

Eastside residents Colleen Hanson and Dale Parker to keep the three sheds

that hold about $20,000 worth of Halloween decorations.

The popular haunted house was in danger of being shut down after code

enforcement officers cited Hanson and Parker for violating city codes.

Without the storage sheds, the couple had nowhere to house their spooky

props.

The house, on the corner of East Wilson and Westminster Avenue, has

become a fixture for the surrounding Eastside neighborhood, as well as

people from across town.

“People -- complete strangers -- were hugging us when we told them we

were going to be able to keep our sheds,” Hansen said.

Councilman Gary Monahan said he is happy Hansen and Parker will be

able to continue their haunting tradition and said the city used common

sense in making its decision.

“The Halloween house is the epitome of ‘character’ -- which is what

the Eastside is loved for,” Monahan said. “The more people try to code

the city, the more character the city is going to lose.”

Code enforcement officers initially investigated because of a

complaint, Monahan said. But after inspecting the sheds -- built more

than 35 year ago -- the city deemed them safe, he said.

Hansen said the couple bought the house specifically for the sheds.

They had to find space to store more than 80 different characters and

numerous coffins.

“We had to move in order to house all our decorations and this house

was perfect with the sheds and the corner lot,” she said.

The couple will not have to worry about this problem in the future,

Hansen said. Hansen said she was told that even if another person

complained, the sheds were safe.

“I guess someone just doesn’t like Halloween,” Monahan said of the

anonymous complaint.

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

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