Costa Mesa trees give way to parking spaces

Some neighbors of Costa Mesa’s Pinkley Park said they are upset that some of its trees are being cut down as part of a 2012 agreement between the city and a developer designed to increase parking at a shopping center on 17th street.

Developer Peter Desforges, operating under the name of West Port Square LLC, told the City Council he wanted to add spaces in the alley behind the Westport Plaza between Santa Ana and Tustin avenues. The city agreed to give up the 7,464 square feet of land in exchange for improvements to the alleyway and adjacent park.

The change is expected to add 130 parking spaces in the Westport Plaza and connect the lot to the adjacent square where Pitfire Pizza is located.

“If you’ve ever eaten at Plums for breakfast on a Saturday or Sunday morning, you’ll know that parking can be an issue,” Desforges said.

The improvements will include a park bench, making a path to the center in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and adding more trees. The trees, which were removed in the past two weeks, sat on a small northwest portion of the 2.58-acre park.

A woman who has called the park home for years said it seemed like 20 trees were removed. The city said fewer than 10 were removed.

Peter Stager lives next to the park and said the change makes sense, but he isn’t happy about the loss of the trees.

“You can’t stymie progress,” he said. “There’s two major businesses there … and that restaurant there is packed on weekends.” But, “The tree they’re cutting down now, it’s a hallmark tree. It’s gone now. It’s a beauty. It looked like a big bonsai tree.”

Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz said the deal will benefit the city.

“The piece of property that was abandoned to the developer, it was not being used. It was a dead-end,” he said.

He added that, before the deal, the city was on the hook before for liability and repairs, but will now be able to collect some tax revenue from the private property.