Aliso Viejo Cityhood: State Agency Says Yes

Aliso Viejo community leaders toasted a bittersweet victory Friday after a state agency unanimously approved their bid to incorporate the master-planned community but decided that a 150-acre neighborhood they had fought to keep could be annexed by Laguna Hills.

Members of Aliso Viejo’s Cityhood Committee, who filed last September to incorporate the planned community, appeared partially relieved by the decision, which also allows them to annex a southern parcel of medical buildings just east of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor, which Laguna Hills also tried to annex.

The decision was made Friday by the Local Agency Formation Commission, the state agency that oversees annexations and the formation of cities.

“It could have been worse,” said committee member John Steward. “I’m happy that we’ve gotten this far in the process.”

The determining factor in the community’s incorporation will be a vote next year by Aliso Viejo residents. Members of the Cityhood Committee said they hope to hold a special election in March, when the city’s first city council also would be elected. The committee has asked for an incorporation date of July 1, 2001.

Laguna Hills officials are hoping to have their annexation completed by the end of the year. But it could be terminated if more than 50% of registered voters living in the area file a petition opposing it. If 25% or more of the registered voters who live in the area sign a petition protesting the annexation, the city would have to put the annexation to a vote.

Some who live in the area to be annexed by Laguna Hills were divided over the decision.

Two-year resident Sherry Bendall was in tears after the vote and called the decision a “hostile takeover” of land.

“We will appeal it,” Bendall said. “Even with my sore back, I’ll be out there collecting signatures.”

Agency member Peter Herzog, who made the final motion for the board approving the Laguna Hills annexation, said the decision was not based upon the residents who lived there.

“There is not a clear distinction in that area,” Herzog said. “There were excellent arguments on both sides, but there were a lot of undecideds.”

Instead, he said, the decision was based primarily on the staff’s recommendation that ceding the north neighborhood to Laguna Hills would actually improve the financially stability of Aliso Viejo.

The staff calculated, for example, that Aliso Viejo could save more than $1 million by 2011 by not having to provide police services to the northern area.

Cityhood Committee member Cynthia Pickett, who pleaded with the agency Friday to keep Aliso Viejo’s borders intact, said it was still a time to celebrate.

“It’s somewhat painful, but it feels good,” Pickett said. “We finally accomplished what we set out to do.”