TITLE:
title
DISCUSSION REGARDING ENVIRONMENTAL INCOMPATIBILITY OF MODEL AIRCRAFT FLYING FIELD AT FAIRVIEW PARK AND CONSIDERATION OF STAFF'S RECOMMENDATION TO CLOSE THE MODEL AIRCRAFT FLYING FIELD TO PROTECT SENSITIVE AND RARE SPECIES AND HABITATS AT THE SITE
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DEPARTMENT: PARKS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
PRESENTED BY: KELLY DALTON, FAIRVIEW PARK ADMINISTRATOR
CONTACT INFORMATION: KELLY DALTON, FAIRVIEW PARK ADMINISTRATOR, (714) 754-5135
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Staff recommends the City Council provide direction to staff regarding whether to permanently close the Fairview Park model aircraft flying field, and terminate the model aircraft individual flyer permit system due to environmental incompatibility, safety issues, and infeasibility with required resource protection measures at the site, based on additional feedback provided by State and Federal regulatory agencies and a more exhaustive review of all available information regarding the rare and/or protected species and habitats located at Fairview Park.
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BACKGROUND:
Prior to undergoing a concerted and deliberate park planning effort, the site of Fairview Park had been subjected to considerable human impacts over time dating to the early periods of western settlement in present-day Costa Mesa. Before recognition of the area's ecological functions and archeological history, the site had been disturbed by a variety of activities including grazing, mowing, agriculture, deposit of construction debris, and surface degradation from uncontrolled pedestrian and vehicular traffic. During the 1960s and 70s, when the site was owned by the State of California, the westerly bluffs of Fairview Park became a popular location to launch model gliders due to the steep slopes which created ideal wind conditions for remote-controlled model soaring gliders. In the mid-1970s, the State sold the site of Fairview Park and Talbert Park to the County of Orange. After the City purchased the section of Fairview Park...
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