Lines best found underground

Drive up through the hills of Newport Coast, and you might notice

something missing. If you don’t, try driving most streets in Costa

Mesa, and the difference will loom over you.

Newport Coast, like many newer communities in Southern California,

has eliminated utility lines by moving all the cables underground.

It’s a subtle aesthetic improvement -- and one that is becoming more

and more widespread.

Costa Mesa has taken some steps, notably along 19th Street on the

Westside, to get rid of old utility poles. Now, city leaders are

considering yanking the poles and wires from all main streets, work

the city would try to coordinate with other repairs when possible.

It’s also work that will run $380 million, a sizable amount

especially given that Costa Mesa residents already owe part of two

other major bills: the $110-million Measure A bond for the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District and the $370-million Measure C

bond for the Coast Community College District, which cost residents a

combined $38.95 per $100,000 of assessed home value.

The question, of course, is whether residents will be willing to

shoulder another financial burden. And city leaders are smart in

deciding that they will first poll residents to judge the level of

support.

For the city’s sake, the answer should be “yes.”

At this point, it is clear that ridding the landscape of utility

poles and wires is becoming fairly commonplace, especially in Orange

County. Residents are coming to expect and demand the aesthetic

improvement. Costa Mesa simply can’t risk falling behind, perhaps one

day being the only city in the area with a skyline dotted by outmoded

Ts. It will matter for property values and for attracting and

retaining businesses.

Many will argue that moving utility lines underground is nothing

more than needless cosmetic surgery for the city’s streets. Mayor

Gary Monahan has suggested the city has a greater need for parkland

or sewer repairs, for instance.

But the simple fact is that utility lines are going to end up

underground. Better to begin the work sooner rather than later. If

other projects, such as street or sewer repairs, can be accomplished

at the same time, all the better still.