Council to weigh adding areas to Newport Beach

June Casagrande

After more than a year of listening to pleas of residents who want to

become part of Newport Beach, the City Council on Tuesday will vote

on whether the city wants to welcome West Santa Ana Heights, the

Santa Ana Country Club and several other areas into its borders.

If council members follow staff’s recommendation, the vote will

set in motion a long process that will result in Newport Beach

addresses for residents of unincorporated West Santa Ana Heights, the

country club and also an area of homes and businesses south of Mesa

Drive.

“The action also gives the council the power to pick and choose,”

Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said. “They can say we want to annex

this area, but not that area.”

But the city doesn’t get the final say.

Far from it. If Newport Beach officials decide to annex the areas,

the city must apply to the Local Agency Formation Commission, which

approves all annexations in Orange County.

Residents will also get plenty of opportunities to weigh in on the

matter. In addition to public hearings held by the city, a “protest

period” conducted by the commission allows residents to stop

annexation.

Kiff said that all residents in the affected area would receive

notices of the pending annexation and of public forums.

East Santa Ana Heights has already been approved for annexation to

Newport Beach. That relationship becomes official on July 1.

West Santa Ana Heights, the country club and the tract south of

Mesa Drive were all slated to become part of Costa Mesa, but vocal

opposition by residents and country club leaders clamoring for

Newport Beach addresses put the brakes on Costa Mesa annexation.

City officials estimate that the financial effects of annexing the

area will probably be negligible. Though the area’s property tax

growth will go largely to the Santa Ana Heights Redevelopment Agency,

fire and emergency service facilities already exist, meaning Newport

Beach would have to provide few additional services.

The city would likely net $91,000 to $93,000 a year for the first

five years after annexing the area.