Factions form in utility issue

The battle over undergrounding utilities on Balboa Island is heating up, with homeowners organizing to send out mailers and make signs both for and against plans to create a $20-million assessment district on the Island.

“It’s putting neighbor against neighbor and it’s getting interesting,” said Balboa Island homeowner Bob McCaffrey, who opposes the assessment district.

Island property owners will vote April 28 over whether to create an assessment district that would cost them thousands of dollars apiece to get rid of the utility poles that line the alleyways to beautify the island.

McCaffrey began printing up fliers in opposition to the undergrounding after he learned plans to create the assessment district were moving forward last month. He hired kids from the neighborhood to leave fliers at the homes of 1,200 residents to let them know about a City Council discussion on the undergrounding.

“The next day, the phone exploded and it hasn’t stopped since,” McCaffrey said.

McCaffrey and others who opposed the undergrounding want the city to re-bid the project to take advantage of lower construction costs, he said. Many older homeowners are on fixed incomes and can’t afford the assessment, he said.

Supporters also are sending out mailers and sticking signs in their front lawns.

Many in support of the undergrounding are focusing on what they claim are safety issues surrounding the utility poles.

The Balboa Island Improvement Assn. recently sent out a special edition of its newsletter, not paid for with association funds, that featured quotes from Newport Beach Fire Chief Steve Lewis on the safety hazards of utility poles.

“Overhead power lines on Balboa Island are a potential disaster waiting to happen,” the newsletter quoted Lewis as saying.

Signs with the word “Danger” printed on them also recently appeared on utility poles on the island, until city workers took them down after residents complained the signs violated city ordinances.

“I think there is virtually nobody who opposed the idea, but in this kind of economy people are concerned about paying for it,” said resident Jack Northrup, who began efforts five years ago to collect signatures from island property owners to underground utilities. “The good news is that the cost is substantially lower than it would have been a year ago because contractors are anxious to keep their crews busy.”

About 60% of Balboa Island property owners petitioned the city to create the assessment district and underground utilities in 2004.

“There tends to be a lot of misinformation out there no matter how hard you try to get out the right information to people,” Northrup said, noting that signs in his neighborhood in support of the assessment district outnumber those against it.

The multiyear undergrounding project that would tear up streets and alleyways on Balboa Island could begin as early as July if island property owners vote for the project in April. The Balboa Island assessment district would be the largest of its kind in the city’s history and would affect about 1,200 property owners.

City officials estimate Balboa Island homeowners will pay anywhere from about $5,000 to $35,500 apiece for the project, depending on the size of their lot. Most homeowners would pay about $16,000 apiece, based on the average lot size on the island.

Property owners can elect to pay the money over the course of 15 years with their annual property taxes. Residents also would have to pay anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 apiece in hook-up fees for the undergrounding.

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