Santa Ana : Judge to Rule on Issue of Stadium Swap Meets
Superior Court Judge Philip E. Schwab said he will decide today whether swap-meet owner Rick Norton can continue to operate his popular open-air markets at Santa Ana Stadium.
The City Council, responding to neighborhood complaints of litter, parking problems and noise, voted in July to ban the meets after this weekend. The meets, which cater to Latinos, draw up to 18,000 customers per day.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Sept. 26, 1987 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday September 26, 1987 Orange County Edition Metro Part 2 Page 2 Column 5 Metro Desk 2 inches; 47 words Type of Material: Correction
Because of an editing error, the judge who made a recent ruling in a lawsuit filed by the operator of a Santa Ana swap meet against the City of Santa Ana was misidentified in a story in The Times on Friday. Judge Pro Tem Elaine Streger dismissed eight claims against the city and allowed the swap meet operator 45 days to try to amend his complaint.
Norton alleged in a 10-count lawsuit that the council’s decision was racially motivated, violated California’s open meeting law, was decided improperly by one council member and did not allow for adequate public comment.
At a hearing in Superior Court on Thursday, Schwab dismissed all but two counts: that council members violated state law by deciding the issue before the council meeting and that the vote should be rescinded because of a conflict of interest.
Norton claims that 400 people make their living from the meets, which, he says, generate about $500,000 a year in local revenue. The council voted to ban the main swap meet at the stadium (Eddie West Field) as well as a smaller meet at Rancho Santiago College.
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