LAGUNA HILLS : City Backers to Meet Twice With LAFCO

Laguna Hills cityhood proponents are scheduled to meet with the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission on May 2 to discuss their application to form the county’s 30th city out of an eight-square-mile section anchored by the Laguna Hills Mall.

The pro-cityhood group, Citizens to Save Laguna Hills, will then face a May 23 formal hearing before LAFCO, chairwoman Ellen Martin said Thursday.

The cityhood application includes 4,600 signatures garnered during a 10-week petition drive and a financial study showing that the proposed city of 30,000 residents would have a $3.2-million reserve in its first full year of operation. “We will be very healthy,” Martin said.

Cityhood proponents are hoping to have the question on the November ballot. It would be the third time in as many years that Laguna Hills residents will have a chance to vote on creating a city. The first two bids--with different proposed boundaries--were defeated.

The hearing process is expected to become heated at times, because the boundaries proposed this time include a section of neighboring Aliso Viejo. Although some Aliso Viejo residents support their inclusion in Laguna Hills, the Aliso Viejo Community Assn. opposes it. Some Laguna Niguel leaders are also seeking to annex Aliso Viejo; LAFCO has taken no action those plans.

Aliso Viejo, an 11-year-old planned community, was established by the Mission Viejo Co. “We’re expecting strong opposition from the Mission Viejo Co.,” Martin said.

Another point of controversy likely to arise during the Laguna Hills hearings is whether to include a thin strip of land near Interstate 5 that would connect north Laguna Hills with the rest of the proposed city.

Including the strip would violate LAFCO standards that forbid sections of land more than 300 feet long to be less than 200 feet wide in an incorporation effort. Cityhood planners excluded Leisure World from the boundaries of this proposal, which yielded the narrow connecting strip.