NIMBY Is No One’s Exclusive Domain : Not-in-My-Back-Yard Philosophy Is Spreading in O.C.

The pull-up-the-drawbridge mentality that so often goes by the acronym NIMBY (“not in my back yard”) is objectionable in any season. But is there something in the summer air this year that has made the affliction seem almost contagious in Orange County?

In Santa Ana, in San Clemente, in Anaheim Hills--surely a diverse geographical cross-section of the county--residents are appealing to narrow-mindedness with gusto, embracing exclusivity as if their lives and neighborhoods depended on keeping others at bay.

In Santa Ana, it was an astonishing development.

After sinking $600,000 into a new pedestrian bridge in progress over the Santa Ana Freeway, the state Department of Transportation acceded to a request by the Sana Ana School Board. Having looked at the numbers, the agency decided that it was preferable in tight budgetary times to spend at least $60,000 for demolition rather than find hundreds of thousands for completion. The reason was that hundreds of residents on the northeast side of the bridge actively opposed the bridge, suggesting that it would be a passageway for imagined criminals who lived on the other side.

The school board, without the estimated $80,000 needed as an alternative to bus children living on the northeast side of the freeway, must reckon with the likelihood that Caltrans will phase out the agency’s current subsidy for busing during the construction in the area. Never mind that plans for the bridge were discussed earlier, and that state and city officials had talked with the school district about locking gates at night to address crime concerns.

Clearly, some provision for any legitimate concerns of residents could have been made. But here was a case where neighborhood fears found an alliance of convenience with budgetary concerns. It produced a marriage of regrettable policy reversal, a cave-in. It was the first time, according to Caltrans, that something that it actually had built would be torn down. What a collapse of purpose.

At a time when people are trying to build bridges, in the infrastructure and between people, here in effect was an attempt to reinforce the barrier in the heart of a multicultural city that already was imposed by the presence of a freeway.

But Santa Ana is not alone. In Anaheim Hills, as we noted the other day, some residents have tried to keep out a successful facility for abused children, even though work to improve the site actually would constitute a marked improvement in the appearance of the neighborhood.

And in San Clemente, residents have petitioned to oppose the building of duplexes for 128 Marine officer families on San Mateo Point, which is a scenic bluff top. The argument of those living in the exclusive gated community in the south end of town in effect was “don’t spoil the view.”

Citing the proverbial fears of plummeting home values and increased traffic, the petitioners apparently believe that the Marines are welcome neighbors, but only so long as they keep out of sight and out of mind on the sprawling land of nearby Camp Pendleton.

The Marines, to their credit, had asked the city and adjacent homeowners association for comment, and made plans to build in a way that was compatible with surrounding architecture. For their trouble, they have learned that there are times when no good deed goes unpunished.

Unfortunately, the NIMBY syndrome appears to be in full bloom across Orange County this summer. Here’s to neighborliness in all our cities as an alternative, in the current season and all year long.