Disparate Pleas Carry the Day in Tale of 3 Cities

Who says you can’t fight City Hall?

A Laguna Beach homeowner, a Garden Grove pigeon enthusiast and the RV owners of Fullerton paid no heed to that saying and on Wednesday were relishing victories.

After initially running afoul of local officialdom, the residents appealed to their city councils. And the councils decided in the residents’ favor.

In Laguna Beach, a handcrafted, slightly oversize white picket fence will be allowed to stand, despite a review board’s objections. In Garden Grove, a resident will be able to keep his 80 pigeons. And in Fullerton, recreational vehicle owners protesting new restrictions won the right to park their motor homes anywhere they want on private property.

Several RV owners called on Revolutionary War themes during their protest; one even read from the Declaration of Independence.

The Laguna Beach homeowner said her victory “showed the system could work, and it did work for me . . . The City Council did their job.”

Added pigeon enthusiast Bogdan Szymanek: “If you’re in the right, you should fight the city. . . . If you believe you’re right, you should stand up and say what you have to say.”

‘I’m in Shock’

Kathy Gallaway went to the wall to keep her fence.

Twice, the white picket fence that surrounds her new Laguna Beach home was rejected by a city review panel because the fence is 6 inches too high, and the 8-foot arched entry also exceeded the 4-foot limit. She was told to cut it to conform with city law or tear it down.

Instead, she appealed to the Laguna Beach City Council Tuesday night. While unanimous Design Review Board decisions are seldom overturned, this time the council voted 5 to 0 to allow Kathy Gallaway’s fence to stand as is.

“It’s fabulous,” said Gallaway, who expected to be turned down. “I’m in shock.”

Several residents stayed until midnight to support Gallaway in her appeal. One neighbor said Gallaway should be given a “beautification award” for the handiwork in her front yard.

Only Johanna Felder, president of Village Laguna, the city’s most powerful political organization, continued to resist approval of the fence.

“Here’s a case where something has been constructed, obviously illegally. I feel if design review should be overturned, anyone could do anything they want and make it cute and use the media to get attention,” Felder said.

Gallaway’s situation was reminiscent of the case earlier this year of Nick and Denise Karagozian, who were barred from moving into their new home because the review board said it was painted the wrong shade of white. The Karagozians had agreed to paint the house “sandstone,” but switched to “shell white” at the last minute, thinking the color was close enough.

The Karagozians’ appeal to the City Council was rejected. However, after the council’s action was publicized, the Karagozians were flooded with public support and defiantly allowed their home to be painted red, white and blue during a party.

Eventually, the city negotiated a compromise with the Karagozians and the house was repainted an off-white shade, between sandstone and shell white.

‘Get Off His Back’

It took almost a decade for Garden Grove laws to catch up with pigeon enthusiast Bogdan (Bugsy) Szymanek.

For nine years, Szymanek kept about 80 racing pigeons in the back yard of his home without ruffling anybody’s feathers. But last year, the city received an anonymous complaint about the birds, and Szymanek was cited for violating a law that prohibits residents from keeping more than 10 birds on their property.

Faced with the prospect with either losing the birds or paying $1,050 to apply for a special permit to try to keep them, the 36-year-old Polish immigrant decided to fight.

On Tuesday night, the City Council agreed 4 to 1 to lower the permit fee to $300 and reject both city staff’s and the Planning Commission’s recommendation that the city retain the 10-bird law. The Council also raised the number of birds allowed from 10 to 100.

“I talked to every one of his neighbors myself,” Councilman J. Tillman Williams said. “Some said they didn’t even know he had pigeons and others, said, ‘Why doesn’t the city get off his back?’ ”

Still facing Szymanek are seven misdemeanor charges that he violated the city’s bird-limit ordinance. He faces a hearing in West Orange County Municipal Court on Aug. 14.

City officials have not indicated whether they will drop the charges in light of the revised ordinance.

Despite the yearlong hassle, Szymanek said the fight “was all worth it.”

“Lately, I’ve kind of been like a celebrity,” Szymanek said. “People from all over Garden Grove and other cities have been knocking on my door wanting to see the pigeons.”

‘The Paul Revere Role’

More than 400 recreational vehicle owners in Fullerton swarmed into City Hall on Tuesday night and persuaded the City Council not only to scrap proposed parking restrictions for RVs but also to water down current regulations.

“I was quite satisfied with the action taken last night,” said Victor Bangle, who owns a 22-foot motor home and helped rally fellow recreational vehicle owners against the proposed restrictions. “I acted sort of in the Paul Revere role,” Bangle said.

The council met until almost midnight to consider rewriting a city law that allows motor homes, boats, trailers and other recreational vehicles to be parked in driveways but prohibits them from being stored within 15 feet of the sidewalk. The law is hard to enforce because it lacks a definition of just when a vehicle is “parked” and when it is considered “stored,” said Sharon Thiessen, a city code enforcement officer.

The city receives about 50 calls a year from residents complaining that RVs are unsightly or that families are living in them, and code enforcers asked the council last year to consider rewriting the law to make it clearer.

After a long debate, the council decided 3 to 2 not to adopt stricter rules. Then it told city staff to work on a law that removes even the 15-foot parking restriction and eliminates any distinction between parking and storing.

Fullerton has “a tradition of American values, independent values and fewer government controls than some other communities might embrace,” Bangle said.

Contributing to this report were Times correspondents Leslie Earnest in Laguna Beach, Greg Hernandez in Garden Grove and Tom McQueeney in Fullerton.

Three Who Beat City Hall

Pigeons can roost in Garden Grove

Garden Grove resident Bugsy Szymanek has a lot of racing pigeons--80 in all, and the city allows only 10. After he protested, the City Council raised the limit to 100 and reduced the fee for the required permit from $1,050 to $300.

Picket fence not too high for Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach resident Kathy Gallaway built a front-yard fence 6 inches higher than allowed by city law. Told by the city Design Review Board to comply with the law, she argued before the City Council and won a reprieve.

RVs can stay in Fullerton driveways

Fullerton resident Charles Pierce and more than 400 other RV owners protested a proposed law that would have made it difficult to store RVs at homes. The City Council dropped the proposal and even agreed to loosen current restrictions.