Annex group seeks meeting

Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman John Moorlach hasn’t been shy about his opposition to the grassroots Newport Beach annexation efforts of Santa Ana Country Club and a nearby neighborhood. Now the residents’ application for annexation is set to expire, and a representative from the group said he plans to meet with the supervisor and ask him to give the residents another shot.

“We’re going to try to talk him out of blocking us,” said Cal McLaughlin, who has led Newport Beach annexation efforts in a neighborhood known as Area 7 or South of Mesa Drive. McLaughlin has lived in the area since the 1960s. “We have not had a face-to-face meeting before.”

The Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission, which regulates annexation in the county, will consider whether to extend the residents’ annexation application at its next meeting in April. McLaughlin said he also will ask the commission to give the residents more time.

“I don’t think the votes are there in their favor at LAFCO,” said Moorlach, who also serves on the commission.

Moorlach has said he will block the residents’ annexation bid because he believes Costa Mesa has a right to the land. Costa Mesa has a sphere of influence over both the country club and the neighborhood South of Mesa Drive and tried to annex them in 2002, but faced widespread opposition from property owners who petitioned against the annexation. The residents want Newport Beach addresses because it will boost property values and they claim the city could offer them better services than Costa Mesa.

“Newport Beach is willing to take us and has withstood a lot of pressure from Costa Mesa,” McLaughlin said. “Costa Mesa does not have any legal right to our property.”

Moorlach, himself a longtime Costa Mesa resident, said although he believes Cost Mesa has first dibs on the land, he’s willing to hear what the other side has to say.

“I’m a very good listener,” he said. “I listen to everybody.”

Newport Beach voted 6-1 to move forward with the annexation application in February, even though city staff recommended the city let the application expire rather than risk a land battle with Costa Mesa over who should get the property.

Santa Ana Country Club and the residential neighborhood gathered more than enough signatures last year to petition for annexation to the county agency that oversees the process. If the annexation application expires, they will have to get more signatures and pay several thousands of dollars in fees to reapply, McLaughlin said.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.