If I would place a bet, I would bet that less than 20% of Seal Beach residents can tell you where, exactly, the Seal Beach neighborhood of College Park West is located. But to the residents there, this special enclave of our city is just that: Special. With a little over 300 homes built on streets named after universities, the people who live on Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Loyola share one drive in and out of their division every day along College Park Drive. And many of these are 3rd and 4th generations of original owners from the mid-1960s.
Off the beaten track, out of sight and out of mind to the city in general, some very dedicated and diligent residents have taken it on themselves for the past ten plus years to change that view for their neighborhood. Meet Larry Kidd and Jan Arboit, original (1965) College Park West residents and leaders.
Neither Larry or Jan would consider themselves leaders, but just concerned residents who felt something needed to be done and not only made it happen once but have continued to improve things for years. When you first turn off the Studebaker off-ramp from the 22 Freeway, you swing around onto College Park Drive. At that moment, one is still in Los Angeles County, but as you continue the less than 3/4 mile drive, you pass over the San Gabriel River channel and enter Orange County, Seal Beach and College Park West.
For many years, Kidd, who had a termite business, would bring in his crew to clean up trash on the Caltrans right-of-way and along College Park Drive, building piles of 30-40 bags at a time. Caltrans agreed to pick up the piles if they did the work. In 2016, Larry got tired of seeing the raw chain-link fencing that runs along College Park Drive and with the help of another neighbor, began planting bougainvillea along the fence line, using small gallon containers to bring water to them, then graduating to 50-gallon drums with spigots that could be filled and administered from the back of his pickup. Caltrans initially tried to stop the work, but instead had Kidd register as an official “Adopt-A-Highway” group, requiring an 8-hour training day on safety and “dos and don’ts”. Interestingly, they do not qualify for one of the “Adopt-A-Highway” signs we so often see because the area does not meet the minimal length (2 miles). Kidd paid for all these things himself.
Soon after this work began, neighbor Jan Arboit stepped up to help. Arboit, who was instrumental in the founding and creation of the Seal Beach Community Gardens in the mid-1970s, has always had a love for farming and gardening and was passionate about helping Kidd make a difference for their neighborhood.
They next set their sights on getting the right-of-way gully cleaned up. When they started, the area was riddled with over and under-growth, weeds, dead trees and trash from homeless campers. They worked with Caltrans to coordinate assistance with removal of collected trash and clippings, but almost 100% of the work was done by the group, although Caltrans and SCE provide some of the big tree thinning as needed. The work took over a year as they moved through what is now a forested area, clearing old and planting new trees through the Caltrans “Clean California” program that helps provide trees. The group found a source for free wood chips to put in, not only for this area, but help provide to the Community Gardens as well. The City of Seal Beach assists where they can with advice and help from city Arborist Joe Talarico and allowing use of the Community Gardens dumpsters.
They have faced issues with theft of their tools and collection tarps and several times, areas that were freshly planted with small bushes or trees, saw them dug up and stolen overnight. Undaunted, they find a way to replace the stolen plants and start over.
Thomas Moore, the council member for CPW says “In College Park West, we are truly fortunate to have a dedicated group of residents who invest countless hours to ensure our neighborhood entrance always looks beautiful. They have taken the initiative to adopt the area from Caltrans and gather weekly to pick up trash, plant new trees and bushes, and maintain the landscape. Thanks to their efforts, every time we drive into our neighborhood, we’re reminded of how special it is to live in such a well-cared-for community.” Moore has also used some of his discretionary funds for plants and trees as well.
The work they do is never-ending, extremely manual and time-consuming, but the results have paid off in the beautiful wall of color and the beauty of the grove that one now is greeted with on the drive into CPW. Other residents have spent time many hours helping, and Arboit’s daughter Karen Nolta helps to manage all the external contact relationships such as Caltrans and SCE. But many have moved out and as such, Kidd and Arboit are in search of more dedicated help to continue the work. They are not registered as a non-profit but do have a dedicated bank account to manage any donations given to them which they need as all their work is primarily self-funded,
They need help now and for the future to ensure that the groundwork they have laid does not go to waste, continuing to provide CPW with a clean and beautiful entrance to their neighborhood. If you would like to volunteer to work or would like to donate funds to help with the ongoing maintenance and work, you can contact Jan Arboit at: Jansjam45@gmail.com or 562-896-6049
We are fortunate in our town to have amazing neighbors like Larry and Jan who love the community so much they are willing to give so much back. One of the things I have always loved about living in Seal Beach is that I know the community is rich in its willingness to step up and help. I hope that I am not proved wrong in this outreach and look forward to knowing that CPW has the resources it needs to continue to be the special place it already is.
