Backyards should not face rules

The idea that anyone can tell me what I can’t put in my backyard

leaves me blind (“Residents uniting against City Hall,” Thursday).

It is just wrong telling me that I can’t park my legally

registered recreational vehicle or inoperable car anywhere on my

property. Mayor Linda Dixon and “her” followers need to give this a

break. I support Councilman Gary Monahan with his apprehensions at

this time. Maybe later after the votes are counted, we’ll know who

cares from where the community roots are derived.

PETER GRANDIA

Mesa Del Mar

I feel what you do in your yard is your own business and not the

city’s as long as it is not illegal, a health hazard or a safety

hazard. I have lived in Costa Mesa for the past 44 years, and now I

feel that I will have to move just to keep my freedom.

RICHARD RITSCHKE

Costa Mesa

I tuned in to the Planning Commission meeting July 22 to hear the

members going on ad nauseam about inspections for rental properties

in our city based on a Santa Ana model. The plan was to inspect all

rental properties in the city and charge a fee to the owner to do so.

These inspections would have nothing to do with complaints or overt

violations, just as a routine inspection.

This is just another example of the attempted “Irvine-ization” of

Costa Mesa.

I have lived in Costa Mesa for the last 32 years, I own three

properties on the Eastside, so I assure you that if I chose to live

in Irvine or South County or the walled cities of Huntington Beach, I

could, but I support individual freedom and accept that if I want to

enjoy my private property as I see fit, I must accept my neighbor’s

right to do the same.

I am not quite sure when things started changing, maybe it was

back when we started regulating garage sales. How many more code

enforcement officers did we hire to do that? Every day I see the code

enforcement cars in my neighborhood, it feels like the secret police.

And there are so many new regulations all the time, no one could keep

up with them.

Six months ago, I received a notice to replace my roof in 30 days.

The roof didn’t look great, but it didn’t leak. The rest of the

house had been in the process of an upgrade and the roof was an

eventual fix, but I was forced to borrow the money to fix it then.

Something is just not right with the city telling people where to

park their campers, and what they can do in their own backyards.

I will be choosing the candidates I vote for very carefully at the

next election, and for those of you who want this new and improved

Costa Mesa, what’s wrong with the present one?

I don’t think the property values are doing too badly. Love it or

leave it. There’s a place for the rest of you, it’s called Irvine.

NANCY PERKINS

Costa Mesa