LAGUNA HILLS

The city on Tuesday dropped its bid to annex the Aliso Viejo Plaza in an attempt to salvage the planned community’s drive to become Orange County’s 34th city.

Don White, Laguna Hills assistant city manager, said the city didn’t want to hinder the community’s chances of incorporating next year. A week-old report by a state agency said the community could not be a financially healthy without the revenue generated by the 33-store commercial center.

Instead, White said, the city now wants to omit the Aliso Viejo Plaza and all the homes in the southern area, keeping only the businesses on Mareblu Lane. The city still wants to annex the northern Indian Hills neighborhood east of Moulton Parkway with Sheep Hills Park.

Members of the Aliso Viejo Cityhood Committee, however, asked the Local Area Formation Commission, which oversees cityhood and annexation issues, to respect the boundaries of the planned community.

“To destroy the plan is to destroy the vision,” Committee President Carmen Vali said. Losing the communities and Sheep Hills Park--the community’s first developed park--would hurt the identity of the community, she said.

The commission will vote on all the proposals at 9 a.m. Aug. 18 in the Planning Commission Hearing Room, Hall of Administration, 10 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana.