Coronita Rider Added to Agency Approval of Annexation by Corona

A county commission voted Thursday to approve Corona’s plans to annex 1,420 acres west of the city but only if the city also attempts to annex Coronita, an adjacent community that would otherwise become an “island” surrounded by the expanding city.

The Local Agency Formation Commission voted also to ask the Riverside County Grand Jury to investigate a charge by city officials that commission staff members misled them about the role the Coronita community would play in the annexation.

Coronita residents for several years have opposed annexation to Corona. But Western Properties Service Corp. of Costa Mesa wants its planned 3,196-home Sierra del Oro project, adjacent to Coronita, to become part of Corona to receive such services as police protection, water and public sewers.

According to Bill Ketteman, Corona’s planning director, the commission staff told him and other city officials that if Corona made a “good-faith effort” to annex Coronita but met with continued opposition from residents, the commission would not block the Sierra del Oro annexation.

Shocked at Recommendation

But when the staff report to the seven-member commission was released earlier this week, Corona officials--and Coronita residents--were shocked to find it recommended that Coronita be appended to the otherwise uninhabited Sierra del Oro annexation area.

Including Coronita in the annexation boundaries, wrote senior administrative analyst Ken Mohr, “would eliminate the creation of a near island of unincorporated territory which is neither logical from a boundary perspective nor efficient or economical from a service delivery standpoint.”

It also would have made the annexation subject to veto by a majority of Coronita’s 1,300 registered voters.

Because the Sierra del Oro annexation would not hinder the county’s delivery of services to Coronita, some residents suggested, the commission would not be creating a true “island.”

“As far as creating an island,” Commissioner Walt Abraham agreed, “. . . I look at it as an island without the (Sierra del Oro) annexation.”

Unusual Allies

The staff recommendation made sudden allies of Corona city officials and fiercely independent Coronita residents, who at Thursday’s lengthy public hearing persuaded the commissioners to reject their staff’s recommendation.

The commissioners, charged by state law with regulating the boundaries of cities and service districts, decided 6 to 1 to require Corona to put the question of Coronita’s annexation to its residents.

They chose not to deny annexation of the 1,420 acres in and around Sierra del Oro, however, if Coronita residents formally reject Corona’s bid.

Mischelle Zimmerman, executive officer of the Local Agency Formation Commission, said, “I’ve only heard from about 10%” of Coronita voters. And although all of those opposed joining Corona, she said, they might not represent a majority in the community.

“I would like to see those . . . people given the opportunity to decide at this time, once and for all, if they would like to be annexed into the City of Corona,” said Commissioner Abraham, a Riverside County supervisor whose district includes much of Corona--and formerly included Coronita.

Master Plan

“Let Coronita decide by the ballot box and majority vote,” without threatening Corona’s development, said Commissioner Norton Younglove.