Mission Viejo Studying Its Prospects for Forming City

Mission Viejo, an unincorporated community with no local government a year ago, could become a full-fledged city as early as November, 1987, a local committee studying incorporation prospects said Thursday.

The residents’ group has hired a consultant to conduct an incorporation feasibility study, a required step before submitting a formal application for cityhood to the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission, William Craycraft, a local businessman who serves as the group’s chairman, said at a press conference Thursday.

The study will take four to five months to complete and will cost $7,500, according to the consultant, Fred Christensen of Oceanside. The study will be financed by private donations, Craycraft said.

Last November, Mission Viejo residents voted overwhelmingly to form a community services district, the first step to incorporation. An elected, five-member board of directors oversees spending of parks and recreation and some maintenance funds previously administered by the county. The county still provides essential services such as police and fire protection, and land-use decisions are made by the Board of Supervisors.

A new city could either provide services such as fire and police protection itself or pay the county to continue providing the services, as San Juan Capistrano does.

The Mission Viejo Co., which founded the planned community 20 years ago, is not involved in the incorporation effort and is neutral on the issue, company spokeswoman Wendy Wetzel said.

“The company has said from the beginning that incorporation is a matter for the community to decide,” Wetzel said. Craycraft and other members of the committee emphasized that at this point they are neutral on the issue as well.

Christensen’s study will compare the tax revenues of an incorporated Mission Viejo with the services that it would have to provide. But committee member Leonard Kraus said preliminary studies indicate that the community would benefit by several million dollars if it forms a city.

If Christensen’s study shows that a city of Mission Viejo--a community of 60,000 that could grow to 90,000 in the next decade--is viable, the committee could submit an incorporation proposal to the Local Agency Formation Commission in December.

If the commission and the Board of Supervisors approve the incorporation proposal early next year, it could be presented to Mission Viejo voters--who must approve it by a simple majority--on the November, 1987, ballot.

One reason for proceeding with the incorporation study now is that submitting the proposal after January 1, 1987, could cost the community several million dollars, if three bills now pending in the state Legislature pass, Craycraft said. One bill would allow LAFCO to increase the fee for filing an incorporation proposal from $1,500 to $25,000, while another would require a newly incorporated city to repay the county for services provided during its first year of operation. Currently, the county must provide start-up services at no charge.

A third bill would change the way local populations are calculated for determining communities’ share of state tax revenue. The new formula would probably diminish Mission Viejo’s share, Craycraft said.

Other unincorporated communities in the south county are also considering forming local governments. Laguna Niguel residents will vote in November on creating a community services district, and committees in both Dana Point and Capistrano Beach have been studying their communities’ options.

If Mission Viejo opts for cityhood, its community services district could continue to exist, or it could simply be absorbed by the city, Christensen said. The boundaries of the new city, for the study’s purposes, coincide with the current boundaries of the district, Christensen said. But those could be changed later by LAFCO.

Richard Turner, LAFCO executive director, said, “It’s inevitable that it will be a city down there sometime. Whether they can meet the timetable they’re talking about, I don’t know.”

Christensen, whose Oceanside firm, Christensen & Wallace Inc., has conducted similar studies for communities in Los Angeles, San Diego and Riverside counties, said incorporation “can bring brand new state money in . . . at a time when the federal government is cutting back.”

But the study would have to indicate that revenues would exceed expected costs by 15% or more for him to say that incorporation would be “unequivocably” feasible for Mission Viejo. If the surplus is between 5% and 15%, the city’s viability would depend on future development and annexation, he said.

If the surplus drops below 5%, incorporation would not be recommended, Christensen said.