County leader moves ahead on redevelopment

Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach says he has colleagues’ support to finance a $23.7-million list of 10 projects in Santa Ana Heights.

In February, Moorlach and his staff put out a timeline to finish projects that have been stuck in the planning stages for years. Now he’s coming to the county board of supervisors for the money, which would come out of Santa Ana Heights’ $40-million redevelopment fund.

Once the projects are done, the redevelopment agency’s debts would be paid off and the agency shut down.

The city of Newport Beach, which annexed East Santa Ana Heights in 2003 and is looking to bring in the western half, still will foot some of the bill for the area’s new fire station. City Manager Homer Bludau said that’s fine because a community room and a training facility to serve the city were added to the project, which also required a slightly larger piece of land.

The project went from an original $4.1-million estimate to $11 million. If supervisors agree to Moorlach’s plan the redevelopment fund will cover $9.8 million of the total fire station costs.

“I am very encouraged by what Supervisor Moorlach is proposing,” Bludau said. “I think it’s something that the City Council will feel very good about.”

Moorlach said he had to do the most schmoozing with Supervisor Chris Norby, who has said the county should shut all its redevelopment agencies down, but he thinks he’ll have the board’s support for the Santa Ana Heights projects.

Residents are excited to see the projects poised to move after being stalled for, in some cases, as long as 10 years, said Barbara Venezia, who chairs an advisory committee that represents residents.

Venezia said she isn’t concerned about the prospect of the redevelopment agency shutting down because she expects the western part of the neighborhood to be annexed to Newport Beach. Officials will take up the annexation debate in May.

“I think that at this point we’ve worked very hard. And if we can get these projects finished and the agency winds down, then we’re part of the city of Newport Beach,” Venezia, a former City Council candidate, said. “When there are things and issues that our community needs, we go to our city.”