Annexation

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.

For years, there has been discussion that the unincorporated Santa Ana Heights area would be annexed by either Costa Mesa or Newport Beach. During talks, the area has been split: Newport Beach has dibs on the east while Costa Mesa wants the west. The county, which now oversees the area, wants someone to take the area and doesn't really care who. But residents of the overall area tend to prefer Newport Beach. On Sept. 16, the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO)

-- Mathis Winkler NEWPORT BEACH -- City officials and Newport Coast representatives said Tuesday that they were close to reaching an agreement on terms of the city's proposed annexation of the upscale neighborhood. "I'm confident that thanks to the work of the resident team, we're close to an agreement out there," said Deputy City Manager Dave Kiff, who presented the annexation proposal to the City Council. Council members unanimously decided to move forward with an application for the annexation of Newport Coast, Santa Ana Heights and Bay Knolls.

June Casagrande NEWPORT BEACH -- Annexation of east Santa Ana Heights and Bay Knolls is moving forward, despite a snag hit recently when some city officials and residents questioned whether the process should be stopped. A workshop on May 16 will be the first public forum on annexation for residents of Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and the unincorporated areas slated to be annexed to these cities. And it's likely the workshop will show support remains strong for annexing east Santa Ana Heights to Newport Beach.

Paul Clinton NEWPORT BEACH -- A legal challenge to the city's annexation of Newport Coast was dismissed Tuesday by an Orange County Superior Court judge, leaving few options to opponents of the long-planned move. "The court found that we did everything the statutes required," City Attorney Robert Burnham said. "And we're pleased." Simple Vote, a group headed by Newport Coast attorney Phillip Greer, had asked Superior Court Judge Derek W. Hunt to reopen the protest period in which a group seeking to challenge the annexation can force a public vote by gathering signatures from 25% of the area's registered voters.

Mathis Winkler NEWPORT BEACH -- The proposed annexation of Newport Coast could be delayed for six months after city officials decided to draft state legislation to guarantee the construction of 825 more homes in the area. The move is expected to push back the tentative annexation date from July to January 2002, unless the legislature accepts the proposal as an urgency bill, which would become effective immediately after the governor signs it and could let the annexation go ahead as planned.

June Casagrande NEWPORT BEACH -- Just after a county commission made it official that Newport Coast will be annexed by the city, a group of residents is looking for ways to stop the process and bring the annexation question to the ballot box. There's a chance it could end up in court. Phillip Greer, a Coast resident who helped gather signatures to stop the annexation, said Friday that a citizens committee plans to ask county officials to review the signature count on the petitions.

Noaki Schwartz NEWPORT BEACH -- The City Council voted 5 to 0 Monday to take its first step in expanding Newport Beach boundaries to include Santa Ana Heights, Bay Knolls and the Newport Coast. But council members emphasized that none of the three areas will have to join if residents do not want to. Mayor Dennis O'Neil referred, in particular, to the controversial, yearlong debate the city has had with residents of the Newport Coast. If residents there don't want to be a part of Newport Beach, the mayor said, Newport Beach won't force them.

Residents of the unincorporated South of Mesa Drive neighborhood have withdrawn an application that would allow the neighborhood and nearby Santa Ana Country Club to be annexed by Newport Beach rather than let it expire due to lack of county support. “Now we’re really just in a hold mode,” said Cal McLaughlin, who has led Newport Beach annexation efforts in the unincorporated neighborhood. McLaughlin said he was unsure when the residents would reapply for annexation or whether the group would try a different strategy.

Sunset Beach recently became a part of Huntington Beach. As supervisor for the 2nd District, which includes Sunset Beach, and as chairman of the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), which governs the annexation of territory to cities, I have long supported annexation. I knew that in the long-term, the county would not be able to afford to provide the level of municipal services Sunset Beach residents enjoy. This process was controversial. Sunset Beach residents have a long history of independence and a passionate desire to protect the charm and character of their coastal community of nearly 1,000.

The Huntington Beach City Council plans to vote July 19 on whether to apply to annex Sunset Beach, the unincorporated seaside community northwest of Surf City. At a study session last week, the council opted to wait a month and a half before voting so that the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) could consider a pair of consultants' reports on the economic feasibility of annexing the area. A city-commissioned report by Ralph Andersen & Associates declared that Huntington could make as much as $624,000 annually if it annexed Sunset, while a report from Willdan Financial Services, ordered by the Sunset Beach Community Assn.

Newport Coast resident Jim McGee spent thousands of hours over the course of several years negotiating an agreement for Newport Beach to annex the well-heeled Newport Coast area. The deal included about $50 million in benefits, paid out by Newport Beach, for the residents there. The deal went through in 2002, after a group of Newport Coast residents filed an unsuccessful lawsuit to try to halt the annexation. Today, McGee cites perks like faster response times from Newport Beach police and paramedics as reasons why he’s happy to call himself a Newport Beach resident today.

Newport Coast resident Jim McGee spent thousands of hours over the course of several years negotiating an agreement for Newport Beach to annex the well-heeled Newport Coast area. The deal included about $50 million in benefits for the residents there paid out by Newport Beach. The deal went through in 2002, after a group of Newport Coast residents filed an unsuccessful lawsuit to try and halt the annexation. Today, McGee cites perks like faster response times from Newport Beach police, and paramedics as reasons why he’s happy to call himself a Newport Beach resident today.

Now that it’s a priority to get unincorporated areas off the books of Orange County, we have responsible people favoring annexation of the Newport Beach Golf Course into the city of Newport Beach (“Annexation put back on the table,” Dec. 12). This will unite pieces of Santa Ana Heights, already part of Newport Beach. Perhaps the most creative annexation could be splitting up John Wayne Airport into three pieces and giving them Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Irvine in proportion to each city’s frontage at that county island.

John Moorlach, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, recently announced that because Orange County is expecting an $84-million budget gap next year, county officials may want to hand over unincorporated areas to other municipalities (?Annexation put back on the table,? Dec. 13). I support Moorlach?s actions and believe for many reasons now is also the time for Moorlach to step up to the plate on the airport issue. Given the almost $100-million budget shortfall, and the concerns of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, now is the time to take bold, responsible and decisive action.

With Orange County expecting an $84-million budget gap next year, county officials may want to hand over unincorporated areas to other municipalities. This could be good news for Santa Ana Country Club and the South of Mesa Drive neighborhood, which have lobbied unsuccessfully to become part of Newport Beach for years, but Costa Mesa still has first dibs on the land. In the wake of the budget crunch, Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman John Moorlach has asked for an investigation into how much unincorporated areas cost the county versus how much money they bring in. Getting unincorporated areas off the books is a priority for Orange County, but it’s not at the top of the list, Moorlach said Friday, a day after the county announced it would have to lay off about 200 social services workers.

Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman John Moorlach got hooked on the World Series of Poker on his summer vacation this year when he and his family decided to stop for lunch at the Rio casino in Las Vegas and got to watch some of the games. Now he’s a loyal ?devotee, watching famed card players like Phil Hellmuth on ESPN. “There’s a lot of ?principles that flow through into life,” Moorlach said. “You have to make decisions based on the information you have.

Residents of the unincorporated South of Mesa Drive neighborhood have withdrawn an application that would allow the neighborhood and nearby Santa Ana Country Club to be annexed by Newport Beach rather than let it expire due to lack of county support. “Now we’re really just in a hold mode,” said Cal McLaughlin, who has led Newport Beach annexation efforts in the unincorporated neighborhood. McLaughlin said he was unsure when the residents would reapply for annexation or whether the group would try a different strategy.