Heights annexation decision postponed

SANTA ANA ? Instead of becoming part of Newport Beach Wednesday, West Santa Ana Heights residents got another delay.

The Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission, a seven-member body that decides annexations, on Wednesday voted to wait until November to consider adding West Santa Ana Heights to Newport Beach. In the meantime, Newport and Costa Mesa officials will come back to the negotiating table to discuss other unincorporated areas.

Costa Mesa and Newport have been tugging on West Santa Ana Heights, a 64-acre unincorporated area southwest of John Wayne Airport, for at least four years.

Residents want to join Newport Beach, as East Santa Ana Heights did in 2003. The eastern and western halves of the neighborhood are part of a single redevelopment area where projects worth about $36 million are underway, with Newport Beach’s guidance.

Costa Mesa officials were asking that part of the unincorporated, 412-acre Banning Ranch property be put in their jurisdiction. Commission staff suggested Newport’s annexation of West Santa Ana Heights come with the condition that the city give up part of its one-foot buffer strip around Banning Ranch, opening the door for Costa Mesa to talk with the property owners.

Newport officials and some residents on Wednesday argued the West Santa Ana Heights issue should be decided on its own, and that making the city give something up in order to annex the area would set a dangerous precedent.

“We came into this in good faith,” Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff told the commission.

He said the proposed detachment of the strip would “have a chilling effect on other cities considering annexations if they’re threatened with a hostile detachment of their own territory.”

On the other hand, Costa Mesa’s position was that any commission decision should be equitable to both cities and that annexations should be considered comprehensively.

County officials have said they eventually want all unincorporated islands annexed into cities. In addition to Banning Ranch, other areas in Newport-Mesa that remain unincorporated are the Santa Ana Country Club and a neighborhood south of Mesa Drive.

Costa Mesa officials said they tried to work out annexation issues with Newport, but Newport would never budge.

“The city of Costa Mesa offered a number of alternatives that at the end of our deliberations simply were not acceptable to the city of Newport Beach, Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder said. “It has been all give on our part, and all take on our neighboring city’s part.”

Residents of Newport Terrace, which is already a part of the city of Newport Beach, argued against the detachment of the Newport strip because they feared it would lead to their homes being someday annexed to Costa Mesa. Costa Mesa officials said they have never discussed that, and commission staff pointed out that residents have the right to a vote that could block attempts to annex them.

After listening to lengthy testimony, the commission decided to put off a decision on the annexation so the two cities can resume talks.

City officials seemed satisfied with the decision, but whether renewed discussions will succeed where earlier talks have failed remains to be seen.

“We’re very pleased. We have a lot of work to do,” Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Katrina Foley said of the commission’s decision.

Newport Beach Mayor Don Webb said he’s not frustrated by the delay and is willing to meet with Costa Mesa.

Residents are feeling less cordial about the outcome.

“It’s idiotic,” Robert Hanley, a 32-year resident of West Santa Ana Heights, said after the meeting. “They keep saying ‘we’ll do it next time.’ They’re holding us hostage.”