Local News in Brief : Irvine : Council Reaffirms Its Interest in Coast Area

The City Council has reaffirmed its interest in annexing the Irvine Coast development in a race with neighboring Newport Beach to take control of the lucrative, 9,400-acre residential, hotel, office and parkland project.

The council--reacting to Newport Beach’s vote to seek extension of its sphere of influence over the entire coastal strip between Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach--decided late Tuesday to notify the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission of its desire to annex the undeveloped acreage.

Irvine officials will ask LAFCO--the agency that rules on jurisdictional boundaries between municipalities--for a hearing after Newport Beach makes its case to extend its control over the area early next year.

“The council is very interested in having Irvine coast become part of this city,” Irvine Asst. City Manager Paul Brady Jr. said.

About 4,000 acres of the unincorporated coastal area is already considered within Newport Beach’s sphere of influence--a designation that usually precedes annexation. Including the added acreage, Newport Beach officials have said, would block Irvine’s desire to annex the coastal property.

At stake is the mammoth Irvine Co. development, expected to generate sizeable tax revenues from its four resort hotels, 2,600 homes, commercial and retail projects.

Irvine council members also asked staff members to draw up an amendment to put Irvine Coast in the city’s General Plan, the primary planning document for the city. Irvine deleted the project from the General Plan in 1976, after LAFCO gave Newport Beach control of the area.