SANTA ANA : Swap Meet Must Find a New Home

After nearly three years of court battles, the city of Santa Ana can now oust Rancho Santiago College’s popular swap meet from the campus parking lot, according to an appeals court ruling.

El Mercado, which is operated by Councilman Richards L. Norton, violates a Santa Ana zoning law that does not permit open markets in that portion of the city, the court ruled this week.

Rancho Santiago officials had argued that, under state law, the city ordinance did not apply to El Mercado because the swap meet provided money for educational services. But the appeals court disagreed.

“We are unpersuaded by this financial argument,” 4th District Court of Appeal Judge Henry J. Moore wrote on behalf of the three-judge panel. “There is no justification for exempting this commercial enterprise from (the) city’s zoning ordinance.”

The ruling overturned a lower court decision that had allowed the swap meet to continue operating.

Mayor Daniel H. Young said the decision guarantees that the city and the college will have a better relationship.

“The swap meet has been an irritant,” Young said. “I look forward to getting this behind us and working with the college to get more things done.”

Shirley Ralston, president of the Rancho Santiago Community College District, said the ruling was “disappointing” because it took away the college’s power to govern itself.

“The college is not only responsible to Santa Ana, it is responsible to the whole county, so it is important for the board to be able to govern itself,” Ralston said.

Councilman Norton could not be reached for comment.

City Atty. Edward J. Cooper said that if college officials do not appeal the ruling, the swap meet will have to move in perhaps as soon as 45 days.

If the appeal is upheld and Rancho Santiago wants to continue the swap meet, college officials will have to ask the City Council for permission to be excluded from the zoning ordinance.

Neighbors who had complained about the swap meet welcomed the court decision.

“The swap meet has been nothing but a blight to the neighborhood,” said Tom Lutz, a member of the Washington Square Neighborhood Assn. “Every Sunday, there has been a constant stream of pedestrians and cars.”

College officials say they do not know whether they will appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.

Ralston said college attorneys will review the decision and make a recommendation on whether to appeal next week.

In January, 1988, the college had entered into an agreement with the Santiago Club, a nonprofit business organization, to run the swap meet. Councilman Norton, who was a member of the club at the time, manages El Mercado.

Although the college does not operate the swap meet, it receives 20% of the proceeds, which totals approximately $5,700 a year, according to court records.

The city has had a history of confrontations with the swap meet. The event had to relocate to the college campus after neighbors of Eddie West Field lodged similar complaints and successfully pressured City Hall to close it down.