Stalled projects move ahead

Orange County supervisors will finish 10 projects in Santa Ana Heights that will cost $23.7 million, they voted Tuesday.

The decision ends years of inactivity on the projects, some of which languished for as long as a decade.

“This is a red-letter day for our community,” said Barbara Venezia, who chairs a committee that represents Santa Ana Heights residents.

The Eastern half of Santa Ana Heights is in the city of Newport Beach, and the Western half is seeking annexation. The whole neighborhood is part of a redevelopment zone.

The redevelopment agency’s $40-million fund will pay for the projects, and the rest of the money will go to discharging the agency’s debts and paying a portion of the county’s bankruptcy debt. The 10 projects should be finished by the end of 2008, and the redevelopment agency will be closed in 2016.

A combination of politics and bureaucracy has stalled the Santa Ana Heights improvements for years. But Supervisor John Moorlach, whose district includes Santa Ana Heights, has pushed to get the projects done since taking office in December.

Moorlach and Supervisors Bill Campbell and Pat Bates voted for the project. Supervisor Chris Norby dissented and Supervisor Janet Nguyen — who was sworn in Tuesday — abstained.

Road improvement projects include paving about 650 feet of Kline Drive that is a dirt road, adding two lanes to Irvine Avenue from Mesa Drive to Bristol Street, and other improvements along Bristol Street between Santa Ana and Irvine avenues.

Other projects include replacing playground equipment at Orchard Drive Park, building a park at Mesa Drive and Birch Street, creating three nonpermanent horse-riding rings in right-of-way for the Santa AnaDelhi Channel, and water and sewer system upgrades for the neighborhood.

Some of the work is already underway. Venezia said a project to bury high-voltage utility lines on Cypress Street and Mesa Drive has been going on for a year, and a fire station at Acacia Street and Mesa Drive has been under construction since July.

For Newport, the supervisors’ decision means the city will be reimbursed for some of the fire station costs.

“I think we’re all excited because this really … starts us building those projects and wrapping up the redevelopment agency,” Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said.