SEAL BEACH : Gating of College Park West Proposed

Some College Park West residents want to restrict public access to their neighborhood and have proposed turning their part of the city into a gated community.

They say it would create a safer environment while saving the city money by reducing the need for police patrols.

College Park West can only be entered from the city of Long Beach, which borders the western edge of the nearly 30-year-old housing development. Residents say their 312-home community is isolated and suffers from poor city maintenance services and is often invaded by transients who camp out in the neighborhood park.

“Progressively, as Long Beach has gotten worse with crime, it’s spilled over into College Park West,” said resident Rosann Rosandich, a local real estate agent who grew up in the neighborhood. “We’re the forgotten part of the city.”

Rosandich is passing out flyers to community members asking if they would support turning College Park West into a gated community. So far, she says, the phone calls have been running more than 3 to 1 in favor of the idea, which she would like to see on a city ballot. The City Council is expected to review the issue Oct. 10.

Restricting public access would not be hard, Rosandich said, because there is a single entry road to the community. But if public access is blocked, residents would have to pay for the cost of maintenance, trash collection and street repairs. Residents could keep city services by putting a guard at the neighborhood’s entrance to monitor but not prohibit public access.

“That’s the route they need to think about going,” Seal Beach Mayor George Brown said. “Otherwise, it could turn out to be quite a costly proposition.”