Meeting puts annexation back on track

June Casagrande

SANTA ANA HEIGHTS -- Residents who support annexation to Newport Beach

say they are thrilled with the outcome of a community meeting Wednesday

night.

“There’s such overwhelming support in the neighborhood to have the

annexation process completed, and it was evident,” said Mike Smith, an

East Santa Ana Heights resident. “I’m just happy that it looks like

things are going in the right direction.”

The special meeting was called by the Santa Ana Heights Project

Advisory Committee to reconsider whether residents want to become part of

Newport Beach. The resounding answer was yes. Members of the committee

voted unanimously to continue to support annexation, and the more than

100 residents who showed up seemed unified in their agreement.

“This is something that the majority of residents have wanted . . .

for some time,” resident Treb Heining said on Thursday. “It was great

last night to see and hear that residents and our

representatives-by-default [the committee] all agree on seeing the

annexation process through and finally officially becoming Newport

Beach.”

The Project Advisory Committee, which represents residents to the

county redevelopment agency, has filled the role of a de facto homeowners

association.

Though most residents there have long supported and expected

annexation, some questioned this recently after Newport Beach officials

said they wanted to use the residents’ redevelopment money to build a

fire station, possibly on a site slated for a community center. This led

some to worry whether the city had East Santa Ana Heights’ best interests

at heart, and, consequently, whether they could count on Newport Beach to

help preserve their unusually diverse land uses.

At the same time, some city officials publicly questioned whether

annexation was in the city’s best interests. This is especially true

because the area is under a redevelopment agreement that makes it a

fiscal burden for an annexing city.

But after Wednesday’s meeting, annexation seems to have regained

momentum.

“Back when we were discussing annexing Newport Coast, we told the

county that we’d also annex islands like East Santa Ana Heights and Bay

Knolls,” Mayor Tod Ridgeway recalled. “It was a gentlemen’s agreement,

and I couldn’t and wouldn’t go back on that. I continue to support

annexing these areas.”

Many residents say they are already inextricably tied to the city.

“We’re already part of Newport Beach -- our kids go to Newport

schools, we support Newport Beach organizations,” Smith said. “It just

needs to be made official.”

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .