SOS Move Now Making Waves in Newport Beach

Share Our Selves, the charity forced to relocate to an industrial area at the edge of Costa Mesa because of protests from residents of that town, now faces a campaign launched by Newport Beach residents to keep the organization away from their city border.

“Already it’s starting--from Newport,” said Jean Forbath, founder and executive director of the 20-year-old organization. “Oh, God, we knew we were going to have people from Costa Mesa screaming, and now we’re going to have people from Newport Beach screaming.”

Some west Newport residents who live near the Newport Beach-Costa Mesa border say they have gathered 90 signatures in hopes of blocking the move. The protesters say SOS will bring crime to the neighborhood.

“I think, generally, we feel that we don’t want to inherit Costa Mesa’s problems,” said Pat Shehan, a Newport Beach resident who announced the residents’ opposition to the Newport Beach City Council on Monday.

SOS, one of Orange County’s largest charities, provides food, clothing, medical and financial assistance to about 20,000 needy people a month. After Costa Mesa residents complained about SOS, the City Council voted to oust the charity from its longtime home at the Rea Community Center.

The controversy generated an outpouring of support for SOS and contributions totaling more than $300,000. The donations made it possible for the charity to pay $1.4 million for a 12,000-square foot building in an industrial area of Costa Mesa at 1550 Superior Ave.

However, by the time the purchase agreement was signed last month, business owners and residents of a nearby mobile home park had already started protesting the organization’s plans.

Before the move can take place, the Costa Mesa Planning Commission must approve the conditional use permit submitted by SOS. That permit will allow the charity to operate in an area zoned for light industrial uses.

If the commission approves the permit, Forbath said she expects the decision to be appealed. Should that happen, a final decision on the permit would be made by the Costa Mesa City Council, probably in March.

Shehan said she will present her petitions to the Costa Mesa Planning Commission hearing and to the City Council, if necessary.

Shehan, who lives in Park Lido, a 98-unit condominium complex two blocks from the charity’s new site, said that the “lack of screening” of the thousands of people SOS serves each month would reduce property values and increase crime in her neighborhood.

Shehan and Priscilla Michaud, who also has been gathering signatures, said SOS clients are likely to walk through Park Lido to get to the bus stop at Newport Boulevard and Hospital Road. Residents of the complex, many of whom are retired, would probably keep police phones ringing with reports of trespassers, Michaud said.

But Forbath said such fears are unfounded. Most SOS clients will be coming from west and north Costa Mesa, and would be more likely to use 16th and 17th streets and Superior Avenue, she said.

“It’s just real unfortunate that before we even move there people have made up their minds we’re going to impact their lives and their neighborhoods,” Forbath said. “They need to weigh that decision a little more carefully and give us a chance.”

Sgt. Andy Gonis of the Newport Beach Police Department said Tuesday that the department anticipates “some problems” based on what occurred in Costa Mesa.

“If we begin to get calls about littering and loitering . . . it will become a police problem to some extent,” Gonis said.

Shehan, who started the petition drive on Friday, said she will continue to solicit support from other condominium owners and small businesses between Industrial Way and West Coast Highway in an effort to block the move.