COSTA MESA : Resident Ordered to Remove Vintage Cars

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Monday upheld a City Council ruling that former restaurateur Sid Soffer violated city parking ordinances by placing half a dozen vintage cars on his property.

Soffer, 59, has 30 days to remove five of the six cars that fill a long driveway on his property at 900 Arbor St., or the city will have the right to have the vehicles towed and charge him for the costs, according to the order issued by Judge Richard O. Frazee Sr. The city may also place a lien on Soffer’s property to collect the costs.

Soffer said he will appeal.

“I bought them and I own them and I collect them,” Soffer said of his cars. “It’s my property, and I feel it’s my constitutional right to have them.”

Frazee ordered Soffer to remove five Cadillacs--a 1953 Fleetwood, a gold 1962 Fleetwood, and sedans made in 1947, 1951 and 1960.

Attorney Michelle Vadon-Rivera, who handled the case for the city, said that Costa Mesa has the right to order residents to remove abandoned cars and other items because they are a nuisance.

“People can’t (have) abandoned vehicles on their front lawns to the detriment of their neighbors. They’re an eyesore, and unless you have a licensed permit to operate a junkyard, you can’t have them,” Vadon-Rivera said. “Just ask yourself if you’d like to wake up in the morning and see those cars.”

Ramona Aldaco, one of Soffer’s neighbors, agreed.

“It’s real ugly,” she said of the cars, adding that she and her husband, Juan Aldaco, were among some of the neighbors who signed a petition asking that the cars be removed.

But another neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said that while she would like to see Soffer’s property cleaned up, he is a good neighbor.

“We’d be very happy if they would clean it up. The weeds sometimes worry us a little bit, but that’s his property,” she said.

The judge visited Soffer’s property last week to see the cars for himself. Soffer managed to start a 1946 Lincoln sedan, which led Frazee to decide that Soffer may keep that car if it passes a California Highway Patrol street-safety test, Vadon-Rivera said.

Frazee ruled that the city ordinance governing the right to remove nuisances was constitutional.

The city was also awarded the cost of legal fees for the case, which was filed last September. Vadon-Rivera said she did not know the total court costs.