Corona del Mar could be split in redistricting

June Casagrande

As city leaders use high-tech software to redraw City Council

district boundaries, one unpleasant reality is becoming ever more

clear: Corona del Mar will not stand as a single district.

Every scenario suggested by the computer and every alternative

envisioned by members of a council subcommittee requires slicing up

this cohesive community that now comprises District 6.

“I don’t want to alarm anyone yet. We’re still looking at

alternatives, but we’re not seeing any way to keep Corona del Mar all

in one district,” said Mayor Steve Bromberg, chairman of a council

subcommittee overseeing the first stages of redistricting.

Subcommittee members hope to present to the full City Council four

proposals for redrawing the city’s seven election districts. The

districts, which are supposed to contain roughly the same number of

residents, have been severely lopsided since the city annexed Newport

Coast in January 2002. About 7,000 residents were added to John

Heffernan’s District 7, which already contained about 9,500 people.

Now, leaders are looking for ways to balance out the districts. But

every scenario they can come up with requires slicing up Corona del

Mar.

“It would be a shame to break up Corona del Mar,” said Bill

Sinclair, president of the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce. “We’re

a little beach enclave. We call it the Village. I’d hate to see it

split up.”

Yet there may be no other way. The most painless proposal could be

to cut the community of Irvine Terrace out of the Corona del Mar

council district and add it neighboring District 5, which now

stretches from Bonita Canyon to Balboa Island and is represented by

Bromberg.

But that’s far from set in stone. The matter will likely be the

subject of a council study session sometime soon. Eventually, it will

go on a regular council agenda for final approval. Residents will

have a chance to participate in discussions at both of these

meetings.

Corona del Mar has a long and colorful history since its

incorporation into Newport Beach in 1923. It’s one of those parts of

the city -- like the Balboa Peninsula or Balboa Island -- with its

own identity and character. Though the ZIP Code and other factors

that help define that character would remain unchanged, residents and

business leaders might still have reason to protest district

boundaries that take a bite out of their community.

Dick Nichols, the councilman for Corona del Mar, was out of the

state on Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.