COSTA MESA : Neighboring Landlady Opposes Soup Kitchen

A soup kitchen that feeds up to 400 people a day is becoming a bone of contention for at least one Ford Road property owner.

Dorothy Adams alleges that the kitchen’s presence one block away on 19th Street attracts suspicious characters and has led to an increase in residential burglaries. She suggested moving the soup kitchen to a nearby city.

“Let’s move it to the edge of Newport,” a soft-spoken Adams suggested during a public hearing. “There have been six thefts in the last five months there (near Ford Road).”

Adams, who owns a rental house and a duplex along the road, said her tenants have been victims.

The soup kitchen, located inside the United Methodist Church on West 19th Street, is operated by the church. Although the City Council said it will look into the possible upswing in crime, a police spokesman said the number of incidents in the neighborhood remains unchanged.

Capt. Rick Johnson, in charge of the department’s patrol officers, noted that the soup kitchen is next to Triangle Square. “Police calls have remained constant, but there hasn’t been any dramatic increase in residential crime because there aren’t that many homes.”

Jack Moriarty, the manager of the soup kitchen, said he thinks the kitchen is getting a bad rap.