More areas marked for Costa Mesa want out

Noaki Schwartz

COSTA MESA -- Residents of two unincorporated areas adjacent to the city

have shown interest in joining the west side of Santa Ana Heights in its

effort to be annexed into Newport Beach instead of Costa Mesa.

Representatives from the Santa Ana Country Club, which is just west of

Santa Ana Avenue, along with residents of a piece of county land south of

Mesa Drive expressed their desire to leave Costa Mesa’s sphere of

influence at Monday’s Costa Mesa City Council study session.

Costa Mesa’s portion of Santa Ana Heights is traditionally viewed as the

area north of Mesa Drive and east of Santa Ana Avenue.

The topic left council members sharply divided on the prospect of losing

more than 268 acres of their community.

“Linda Dixon and I have said that it’s insulting,” said Libby Cowan,

Costa Mesa’s vice mayor. “It’s a very emotional issue.”

However, Mayor Gary Monahan said he is hoping to take some emotion out of

the debate and take a more logical approach to the sensitive topic.

“The main thing for residents and the City Council is that we’ve got to

get away from the personal name-calling and insults that are being

taken,” he said. “The fact is ... we need to do what’s best for the

residents in Santa Ana Heights and the best for our residents.”

Cowan said she believes the communities are primarily interested in

acquiring a Newport Beach mailing address, which is considered by some to

be more prestigious than one in Costa Mesa.

But Heights resident Russell Niewiarowski, who is leading the unification

effort, said a Newport address is simply “icing on the cake.”

“There are many reasons, but the overwhelming answer is that Santa Ana

Heights community has always been one community,” Niewiarowski said.

Other reasons are Newport’s staunch opposition to the expansion of John

Wayne Airport, its support of the community’s specific plan and the fact

that the city has shown interest in annexing the community, he said.

Soon after the Newport Beach City Council announced its intention to

begin the annexation process of Santa Ana Heights, Bay Knolls and Newport

Coast, a faction of Heights residents expressed their interest in

becoming part of Newport Beach and in unifying their divided community.

Based on how the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission has

outlined where communities would go in the future, Santa Ana Heights

could potentially be split between Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

While these residents initially intended to petition for their release

from Costa Mesa, organizers were later told they could simply submit a

request to the commission to redraw the community’s lines.

They plan to submit their request when the proposals from Newport Beach

and Costa Mesa are heard, Niewiarowski said.

When making a decision on the complex issue, the commission would look at

financial aspects as well as issues such as continuity of services, and

will put aside the more emotional arguments, said Costa Mesa City Manager

Allan Roeder.

While Niewiarowski said his group hadn’t planned on the addition of the

Santa Ana Country Club and the area south of Mesa Drive, he said they are

welcome to join the effort.

Costa Mesa officials, however, seem even less sure about letting go of

the two areas than they are about Santa Ana Heights.

Monahan said he feels Santa Ana Heights neighborhood has presented a

strong case for leaving the city, but that reasons behind the latest

additions to the fight were “much more gray.”

Cowan agreed that it should not be easy for other communities to simply

jump on the annexation bandwagon.

“It’s not just a matter of saying ‘I don’t want to be in Costa Mesa, I

want to be part of Newport’ -- there is a major process that every entity

involved has to go through,” she said.

Roeder added that in comparison to Santa Ana Heights, the country club

and the other residential area are entirely surrounded by incorporated

Costa Mesa.

And Newport Beach Deputy City Manager Dave Kiff said although the Newport

council has not ruled out the possibility of taking in those areas, “it

is financially difficult to add areas outside of what we’ve proposed.”

The Costa Mesa City Council will discuss the issue again at its Dec. 6

meeting.