NEWPORT BEACH : Residents Pledge a Clean Bay-Front

Residents of a bay-front mobile home park in Newport Beach have decided to take it upon themselves to clean the beach in front of their trailers.

The newly formed Marinapark Homeowners Assn. has started an adopt-a-beach program that city officials hope will be a model for other community groups. The group plans to begin the program officially in about two weeks, but members are already organizing residents into cleanup squads and a 24-hour “crisis crew.”

“We started doing the kind of things homeowners associations do, and we started thinking we’re doing all these things internally, and what could we do for the community?” said Herbert Williams, president of the group. “We decided (to) do something that wasn’t being done, something that needed to be done and would be fun.”

The program is modeled after the state’s highway program, under which community groups pledge to clean a section of freeway running through their areas.

The Newport Beach group plans to clean the stretch of beach in front of and next to the trailer park, from 16th to 19th streets on the bay side of Balboa Boulevard. At the first meeting in a couple of weeks, the city will award the members with a sign for the area commemorating their work.

Group members are buying rakes, trash bags and shovels. They plan to work in groups of eight to 10 people who will remove refuse on the beach once a month or as needed. Also, the association plans a 24-hour “crisis crew” for such immediate problems as overturned trash cans or the remains of weekend parties.

David Neiderhaus, director of general services for Newport Beach, said the three-block stretch from 16th to 19th streets is a narrow spot difficult for city cleaning trucks to reach. He added that city crews clean the area only about once a month in winter and once weekly in summer.

He added that the city often hires youth workers in summer to reach the narrow corners, but with the homeowners group providing that service, summer workers can be used elsewhere.

“It’s difficult for us to get to with our big-rig tractor-trailer truck,” Neiderhaus said. “It needs to be done by hand.”

He hopes that the homeowners group will encourage other residents to adopt nearby beachfronts or parks for cleaning.

“It’s kind of unique. We’ve had people come over for a one-day event, but we’ve never had anyone with a (long-term) commitment,” he said. “Hopefully, it’ll catch on a little bit.”