West Newport utility undergrounding project is underway

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- A forest of poles and a canopy of wires still cover

West Newport Beach’s Seashore Drive. But like other parts of the city,

such as Balboa Island, residents in the area also hope to clear their

sky.

The City Council unanimously approved an underground utility district

-- the city’s largest -- for West Newport Beach last year. Edison

completed designs for Phase 1 of the project, which spans from the Santa

Ana River to 56th Street, in July. This month, the city reviewed

preliminary drawings with the electricity company for the section from

35th to 25th streets.

Residents had gathered signatures from almost 60% of their neighbors

to pay for the disappearance of overhead electricity, telephone and cable

wires.

But while utility companies are working on design plans to submerge

the wires, it’s still not clear whether the project will happen. City

officials estimate that a public hearing on the undergrounding can be

held in late 2001. A majority of comments at the meeting have to favor

the change in order to proceed.

“We still have a major obstacle to overcome of making a unified

appearance,” said Paul Watkins, a 20-year resident of West Newport Beach

and proponent of putting utilities underground. “There will always be

some opposition.”

And at a price tag of $6,000 to $9,000 per household, that’s

understandable, Watkins said.

“Even though it can be spread over 15 years on your tax bill, that’s

still a considerable sum of money for some of us,” he said.

City officials said opponents to undergrounding projects don’t see the

benefits of removing the wire garble.

An increase in property values far outweighs the cost for

undergrounding, said Deputy City Manager Dave Kiff.

He added that apart from the safety hazard of free-hanging wires, the

poles on the sidewalk don’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities

Act.

“People with wheelchairs have to go on the road just to get around,”

Kiff said.

But Watkins said that hopefully his neighbors would pick up the bill

once it became necessary.

“The clear benefit is to have a much less blurred view corridor,” he

said. “As you drive down Seashore Drive and Ocean Front Avenue, it’s

quite apparent that if the clutter were removed, it would become a much

more peaceful neighborhood. It’s well worth the effort.”

He’ll have to convince every single one of his neighbors to make the

change.

“If people haven’t done the individual attachments [to the new

underground utility wires,] the poles will be there until everyone’s

hooked up underneath,” said Kiff.

Should residents approve the undergrounding next year, construction

could start by 2002, city officials said.