Coto, Las Flores Part of LAFCO's 'Visioning' of South O.C.

By Penny Arévalo

The agency responsible for forming cities in Orange County is turning its efforts to the south county to take a look at all the unincorporated areas.

The Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission (or LAFCO) is dividing the topic into two subgroups:

The Rancho Mission Viejo area, including:

• The Rancho Mission Viejo development
• Ladera Ranch
• The existing cities of San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente

The Rancho Santa Margarita Area, including:

• Coto de Caza
• Las Flores
• The existing city of Rancho Santa Margarita

The first meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 8:30 a.m., in the county Planning Commission hearing room, but it’s only the first step in a long journey that will help determine what shape and form these unincorporated areas ultimately take, LAFCO Executive Director Carolyn Emery told the San Juan Capistrano City Council Tuesday night.

Part of the process will be getting the input of residents and homeowner association board members, along with nearby city officials. In the case of Rancho Mission Viejo, where homes just recently went on the market, the developer will also participate.

An important component of the South Orange County “visioning process” is to determine how much revenue the unincorporated areas bring in and how much it costs to provide them municipal services, such as police services, street sweeping, trash collection and the like, the LAFCO staff wrote to its commission.

Because Rancho Mission Viejo is just at its beginning stages, it will “require more in-depth and sophisticated analyses,” the staff stated.

The financial analyses are expected to be complete by the end of year, and then the various “stakeholders” will begin conversations about the best paths to pursue, the report says. Decisions are expected by June 2014.

Wednesday’s meeting, for those who might want to attend, will be the Hall of Administration, 10 Civic Center Plaza in Santa Ana.