Annexation could turn into battle

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- City officials have taken an important step toward

expanding the city’s borders to include parts of Santa Ana Heights and

Bay Knolls.

On the heels of Costa Mesa filing an application to annex parts of the

same two unincorporated areas, Newport Beach staff met Tuesday with

county officials to nail down some details of the application process.

The Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission, the agency that

oversees annexations, has asked that the two cities apply at the same

time for the annexation. In February or March, the commission is expected

to hold a hearing to make a decision on the two cities’ requests.

Though Newport Beach officials have been careful not to get into

territorial disputes with neighboring Costa Mesa, controversy is visible

on the horizon.

“Annexations are never really peaceful,” Newport Beach Assistant City

Manager Dave Kiff said.

Current plans are for Newport Beach to absorb 190 homes in Bay Knolls

and 460 in east Santa Ana Heights. Costa Mesa plans to annex the western

area.

For a bevy of reasons, many are unhappy with this arrangement. Newport

Beach, many agree, is the place to be.

“We feel we have more in common with Newport Beach, and as part of

Newport Beach we would have much better representation,” said Russ

Niewiarowski, a resident of Santa Ana Heights’ Pegasus Tract, which is

slated to become part of Costa Mesa. The tract is a cluster of about 84

homes, plus some apartment buildings, between the Delhi Channel, Mesa

Drive, Irvine Boulevard and Santa Ana Avenue.

“Every time we ask Newport Beach to send a representative to one of

our meetings, they’ve been there, but three times we’ve asked Costa Mesa

to attend and they didn’t show up,” he said.

Property values are another concern. A swankier Newport Beach address

could be measured in dollars on the assessed value of many homes.

The decision about which city will annex which area was made decades

ago when the county was helping cities define their “spheres of

influence.”

Some, like Niewiarowski, want officials to reconsider these

theoretical boundaries.

“We know that the residents have some issues, though, and that’s

something LAFCO gives weight to,” said Carolyn Thomas, the commission’s

project manager overseeing the annexation.

Unlike the Newport Coast annexation, on which the commission is

holding its hearing today, Santa Ana Heights and Bay Knolls will be money

losers for Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, which will spend more to provide

services such as fire and police than they will get in property taxes.