Update: Follow-up on the news : LAKE FOREST : No Annexation Plans for Foothill Ranch

There will be no hostile annexation of Foothill Ranch, city officials assured residents of the unincorporated community this week.

Foothill residents had been concerned about a City Council agenda item stating that Lake Forest City Manager Murray Warden was seeking direction on the so-called supercity incorporation efforts.

In the past, Lake Forest has expressed strong interest in annexing Foothill Ranch, an area northeast of the city that includes sales-tax-rich Foothill Ranch Town Centre, a 113-acre shopping center.

Two years ago, council members went door to door in the community to sell residents on the benefits of merging with Lake Forest. But, faced with strong opposition from residents, the city stopped pursuing the proposal.

The council instructed Warden simply to provide information about Lake Forest to anyone interested in annexation.

“We will not be initiating any conversations with Foothill Ranch,” council member Ann Van Haun said. “Any contact between us will have to be initiated by Foothill Ranch.”

The idea of merging nine communities in the foothills of the Saddleback Valley into a supercity was spurred by Orange County’s bankruptcy filing late last year. Many people already dissatisfied with county services expressed concern that they would decline even further.

--COMPILED BY RUSS LOAR, SARAH KLEIN AND FRANK MESSINA