SEAL BEACH : Gated Community Proposal Dropped

A proposal to turn the College Park West neighborhood into a gated community has died in the face of significant costs and opposition from local residents.

A new survey of residents in the 312-home community shows about 80% oppose the plan, which was proposed by residents Michael and Rosann Rosandich as a solution to crime and maintenance problems.

“The College Park residents don’t want to put any money out in taking care of the streets or the sidewalks,” Rosann Rosandich said.

“They’d rather stay with the status quo.”

At Monday night’s council meeting, City Manager Jerry L. Bankston said residents would have to form a homeowners association and assume the costs of street and landscaping maintenance, utilities and liability insurance in addition to paying for guard service.

The conversion would require ballot approval by residents and approval by the City Council.

“It is at best a three-year process,” Bankston said.

Residents have complained that their 30-year-old community is often invaded by transients who camp out in the neighborhood park.

College Park West can only be entered from the city of Long Beach, which borders the western edge of the community.

But after taking a look at citywide crime statistics, Bankston said the community is safe.

“College Park West is one of the safer communities in the city of Seal Beach to be in,” he said.

The Rosandiches estimated that real estate values could climb by as much as $15,000 per home if the community was gated.

But Michael Rosandich, an aerospace engineer, said the cost to residents in comparable gated communities is as high as $300 a month per household.

“We just wanted to know how feasible it was because people had talked about it for so long,” he said.

“At this point, it would not be economically feasible to do it.”