Residents recruit strong allies

Deirdre Newman

East Santa Ana Heights residents have gotten some heavyweight support

in their fight to get two county parcels in their neighborhood as

parkland: the City Council and County Supervisor James Silva.

The two parcels are at the southeast corner of Mesa Drive and

Birch Street and are owned by the Orange County Development Agency,

which oversees the county’s redevelopment area. The agency has been

negotiating with developer Newport Executive Corp. to sell these

parcels to be used as street-level parking for a proposed office

building.

Residents have fought this plan -- which would make a parking lot

the entryway to their community -- and are seeing some results.

On July 13, the City Council unanimously approved asking the

agency to not sell the parcels for development, urging it to use its

funds to build a passive park instead.

In a letter to Newport Beach Mayor Tod Ridgeway dated July 18,

Silva expressed his support for the park project.

“It is particularly important to me that we are able to maintain

the preservation of the neighborhood, while also ensuring adequate

oversight and accountability of redevelopment funds,” Silva said in

his letter.

East Santa Ana Heights residents attribute their new clout to

their annexation to Newport Beach in July 2003.

“We were these lone voices, and no one was really paying

attention,” said Barbara Venezia, secretary of the Santa Ana Heights

Project Advisory Committee, which has been fighting for the park.

County staff members will now go back and rework the development

agreement with Newport Executive Corp. without these two parcels and

bring that to the board of supervisors for consideration, Asst. City

Manager Dave Kiff said.

Newport Executive Corp. did not return a call for comment.

The company is interested in developing an office structure at

20412 to 20392 Birch St., according to a staff report. The two

parcels at issue can’t be developed, but they can house street-level

parking. The proposed price for the two parcels is $550,000. If the

lots are sold to the company, the funds would go into the agency’s

account for capital improvement projects in and around Santa Ana

Heights.

The council’s decision last week was based on the knowledge that

parking for the planned office development could be built underneath

the office building. The council also declared its ability to

maintain the park once it has been built, which will cost about

$6,000 a year.

The city stands behind the desire of its newest residents, City

Councilman Steve Bromberg said.

“We support what the people are trying to do in Santa Ana

Heights,” Bromberg said. “Parks are good for everyone.”