Are These Your Neighbors?

Suppose you know your next-door neighbor really well.

Suppose you even like him.

Suppose you have a Norman Rockwellian relationship with this guy and his family: you borrow each other’s tools; you enjoy a cold beer together in your yard now and then; your wives go to the gym together three times a week; your kids play the same sports; your dogs wag their tails and romp together on the lawn.

You’re a lucky guy! The problem, though, is that there aren’t very many of you in the world. There aren’t very many of you even in Dana Point By the Sea.

The truth is, you’re likely to consider your neighbor, whoever he is, a problem. His backyard—what you can see of it over an unfriendly six foot high fence—is either overgrown or overbuilt. He has four cars, two or which he parks in his driveway and two in the street because his garage is filled with stuff that seemed like a necessity when he bought it in another life. Last year he painted the house a rusty orange color that clashes with your lavender trim

Actually, you’ve never looked over that fence. The reality is, you’ve never talked to the guy. You probably wouldn’t recognize him if you were behind him in line at Dana Point Hardware.

Chances are, he’s just as nice as you!

Who knows? Your entire block of homes may be filled with families who would make your life more enjoyable and more meaningful—if only you knew them, if only you shared yourself with them.

It is this possibility that has motivated the Lantern Village Association to organize the area, Selva to the sea, from Chula Vista on the northwest to Calle la Primavera on the southeast, into a system of blocks, each block made up of homes and residents who, if they only knew it, have much in common.

The premise is this: we’ve got a beautiful ocean here; let’s take care of it; let’s enjoy it together.

In the early days of cityhood, the Lantern Village area of the city wasn’t so beautiful. Trash-lined streets, over crowded residences, terrible property maintenance by some owners, illegal garage conversions, drug dealings, graffiti, and public consumption of alcohol were ongoing concerns. It was the Lantern Village Association that spearheaded a campaign to eliminate these problems, working with the City Council, the Sheriff’s Department, and a Code Enforcement Officer.

Code Enforcement Officers now handle all complaints, including construction building code violations, health and safety issues, and property maintenance seven days per week.

Because bulk trash—refrigerators, furniture, office equipment—continue to be a problem, a hot line (248- 3573) has been established for residences to report these conditions.

In addition, you’ve probably noticed signs in residential areas stating that Dana Point has an active Neighborhood Watch program. It is the LVA’s plan to expand this program to create a sense of pride in community so that residents take responsibility for each other in ways beyond security. We envision neighbors working together to keep their block free from litter, free from parking problems, free from safety issues, free from code violations, not by creating more rules and not by acting as an enforcement body, but by listening to each other.

The residents in each block would focus on knowing their neighbor, socializing with him, and being there to help him in times of need. This would be accomplished by having block captains who organize occasional meetings at which neighborhood needs are discussed and who act as that block’s connection with the City. The block captains would be encouraged to meet with the LVA board of directors to discuss the particular needs of a given block.

Please plan to attend this year’s annual meeting. We can talk more about this. Maybe we can discover together how you might become a block captain in your neighborhood.