Newport-Mesa talks renewed

Newport Beach and Costa Mesa leaders want to try again to compromise on the annexation of unincorporated county parcels that border both cities, despite two earlier breakdowns in talks.

The two cities have been haggling over who will annex four areas: West Santa Ana Heights, Banning Ranch, the Santa Ana Country Club and a neighborhood south of Mesa Drive.

The Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission, which decides annexations, was set to discuss the issue Nov. 8, but Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor and Newport Beach Mayor Don Webb have asked the commission to put off discussion until May 2007.

Commission assistant executive officer Bob Aldrich said it’s likely the commission will grant the extension.

“With all that’s going on right now it just makes sense to delay it a little while until after the election,” Mansoor said.

By January, both cities’ councils and the county board of supervisors will each have one or more new members, so the extension will allow them to settle in.

It’s questionable, however, whether the delay will result in a solution both cities can support. A professional mediator in August said after talking with representatives from both cities that she did not believe they could reach a consensus on the annexation issue.

Representatives of all four unincorporated areas have said they want to join Newport, and the country club and area south of Mesa Drive filed an annexation application in September.

But West Santa Ana Heights, the country club and the area south of Mesa Drive are considered part of Costa Mesa’s “sphere of influence,” which means the city has first right to provide services and request annexation of the area.

Costa Mesa officials have asked for a piece of the largely undeveloped, 412-acre Banning Ranch, which is in Newport’s sphere, but Newport has opposed ceding anything.

Another uncertainty is what county supervisors will do with the Santa Ana Heights redevelopment agency, which has about $40 million in diverted property taxes to cover improvement projects in the area. Newport has talked with the county about assuming control of the agency and the projects, but at least one supervisor wants to shut the agency down and discharge its debts.

If the agency is dissolved, it might diminish Newport’s interest in West Santa Ana Heights. While only a few redevelopment projects are slated for the area, one of them is a major road reconstruction that could cost $1.2 million, Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said.

Webb said he doesn’t want to second-guess what the county will decide, but the city will want to consider the redevelopment issue — and that’s another good reason to hold off discussing the annexation, he said.

“When we were actively pushing for the annexation of West Santa Ana Heights, it was with the understanding that we would have the redevelopment agency,” Webb said.