Costa Mesa may counter annex effort

Newport Beach wants west Santa Ana Heights, but Costa Mesa may not give it up easily.

After the Newport Beach City Council voted Feb. 14 to apply for annexation, two Costa Mesa City Council members want to pursue annexing West Santa Ana Heights and most of Banning Ranch.

The two cities have been fighting for several years over West Santa Ana Heights as well as the Santa Ana Country Club and an area south of Mesa Drive ? two other bits of unincorporated county land that touch both cities’ boundaries.

After meeting with Newport officials but failing to reach any agreement, Costa Mesa Council members Eric Bever and Katrina Foley on Tuesday will recommend that the city file a request to take in a 357-acre chunk of the 412-acre Banning Ranch property and to reactivate a dormant application to annex West Santa Ana Heights.

West Santa Ana Heights is south of Bristol Street between Santa Ana Avenue and the Newport Beach Golf Course.

Newport Beach plans to apply to the Local Agency Formation Commission, a county body that governs annexations, to bring the 64-acre West Santa Ana Heights into the city. East Santa Ana Heights was annexed in 2003 and the city already administers a number of projects with the heights’ $26-million redevelopment fund.

Aside from some small oil production facilities, Banning Ranch is largely undeveloped and would likely have developers falling over each other to get a piece if it were slated for housing. As long as it’s county land, county supervisors have the final say on zoning, but Newport Beach has included it in planning documents.

Banning Ranch lies north of West Coast Highway and is roughly bounded by the Santa Ana River to the west, West 19th Street to the north, and housing and industrial developments between 19th Street and Superior Avenue to the east.

If the Banning Ranch application were approved by the Local Agency Formation Commission, the area would become part of Costa Mesa’s sphere of influence. That would mean Costa Mesa is likely to best provide municipal services to the area and might eventually annex it.

Cities can only annex areas within their sphere of influence.

Costa Mesa officials are looking for a solution that puts all the unincorporated areas on the table, instead of just West Santa Ana Heights, Foley said. They also think a land swap ? West Santa Ana Heights for a piece of Banning Ranch ? would be fair to both cities, she said.

“We’re just trying to do what we think is in the best interests of Costa Mesa,” Foley said. “We of course understand the logic behind ? Newport Beach’s request, but we also think our request is logical and reasonable as well. We just can’t continue to have this piecemeal approach.”

The best approach, Foley said, would be for the two cities to sit down together and work out a deal, but Newport moved ahead before that could happen.

West Santa Ana Heights residents have said they want to join Newport Beach and applauded that city’s steps toward annexation.

The Costa Mesa City Council will vote Tuesday on whether to file the annexation requests for West Santa Ana Heights and Banning Ranch with the Local Agency Formation Commission.

Bob Aldrich, the commission’s assistant executive officer, said if each city files an application, they’ll be brought to the commission at the same time. It could take four to six months for the requests to be considered by the commission.