Newport’s activism sells well

Deirdre Newman

Residents who live in an unincorporated area that is the object of a

tug-of-war between Costa Mesa and Newport Beach say they would prefer

the coastal city address for many reasons -- and higher property

values isn’t one of them.

Newport Beach has made a move to annex an area that includes West

Santa Ana Heights, the Santa Ana Country Club and a mostly

residential area south of Mesa Drive between Santa Ana and Irvine

avenues, which fall into Costa Mesa’s sphere of influence.

West Santa Ana Heights residents there say the main reason they

want to be part of Newport is the difference in the way the two

cities have handled the noise and capacity of John Wayne Airport,

since they live under one of the airport’s flight paths.

“Our prime reason, generally, is [Newport Beach] is the only one

who has done anything about the airport,” said Robert Handley, who

emphasized that he is not against the airport. “They’ve spent

millions to control that blasted dragon.”

Handley and a group of other West Santa Ana Heights residents

began working on the effort to be annexed by Newport Beach in 1998. A

year later, they petitioned the Local Agency Formation Commission,

which has the final say on annexations, asking to be released from

Costa Mesa’s sphere of influenceNearly 99% of the West Santa Ana

Heights residents favored being part of Newport Beach, said Isabel

Hernandez, who worked with Handley on the effort.

But in April 2001, the Costa Mesa City Council voted to annex West

Santa Ana Heights.

In May 2002, Handley’s group petitioned the city of Costa Mesa and

the commission again. This time, they said they would stage a protest

vote if they were annexed by Costa Mesa. And in September 2002, their

third petition again asked the commission to release them from Costa

Mesa’s sphere of influence.

That same month, the commission decided not to take action on

Costa Mesa’s annexation application for West Santa Ana Heights nor

the residents’ request to be removed from Costa Mesa’s sphere. The

commission took no action because at this same meeting, it approved

the annexation of East Santa Ana Heights to Newport Beach and the

commission felt it should give Newport Beach the chance to weigh the

future annexation of West Santa Ana Heights, said Bob Aldrich, the

acting executive officer of the commission.

On Feb. 17, the Costa Mesa City Council voted to continue pursuing

annexation of these areas.

One of the other reasons Handley’s group wants to become part of

Newport Beach is they prefer a city with council districts, like

Newport Beach, Hernandez said. Costa Mesa’s handling of its Westside

is a prime example of the problems created by a council elected at

large, he said.

“Costa Mesa has had problems with the Westside for 30-plus years,”

Hernandez said. “I’ve been attending City Council meetings and this

has not been resolved. No one City Council member is responsible for

this area, so no one is accountable.”

Another appealing factor of being part of Newport Beach is that it

is a charter city, said West Santa Ana Heights resident Edwin Hall.

With a charter, a city can be more flexible in addressing problems,

he said.

Costa Mesa Mayor Gary Monahan said he had no problem with Newport

Beach annexing West Santa Ana Heights, but wants Newport Beach to

back off its attempts to also annex the country club and a small part

that’s already in the city limits.

“This is about Newport Beach’s power grab,” Monahan said. “I’m a

realist and I’ve always known and I know now and have no problem

[with these residents] being annexed to Newport Beach. They’re part

of a redevelopment zone and Santa Ana Heights should stick together,

but Newport Beach stepped way over an annexation request for West

Santa Ana Heights and we’re opposing that entire request. They need

to back off.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.