OC LAFCO Unincorporated Areas Program
Orange Islands (ID#17-19, #21-23)
Sphere of Influence – City of Orange
Strategic Opportunities for County Unincorporated Areas Since 2000, OC LAFCO has successfully annexed several unincorporated county areas to adjacent cities.
Today the collaboration with the County and cities adjacent to these areas continues with t he remaining unincorporated areas involving a combination of challenges (e.g., historical resident and agency opposition, lack of infrastructure financing, differences in city/county development standards) that requires a strategic partnership facilitated by OC LAFCO. Current demographic and fiscal data are critical to this effort and a better understanding of issues related to municipal service delivery to unincorporated communities.
The information below provides an overview of current service related costs and revenues as well as potential opportunities for islands.
Overview of the Orange Islands (ID#17 – 19, #21-23)
The Orange Islands include six separate islands consisting of a total of approximately 850 acres of unincorporated territory surrounded by the City of Orange. The islands are generally located in the western part of the sphere of influence of the City of Orange and include 1,362 single-family detached units and 447 other dwelling units, a population of 4,891 residents, and 2,375 registered voters. The chart below depicts the acreage for each island.
Island Name Island ID # Location Acreage
El Modena ID#17 North of Chapman Avenue and south of East Silverleaf Avenue. 101.67
Lincoln/Glassell ID#18 North of West Lincoln Avenue and adjacent to Santa Ana River. 103.03
North El Modena ID#19 North and south of the intersection of Hewes St. and East Bond Avenue. 31.59
Olive Heights ID#21 North and south of East Buena Vista Avenue, south of East Bixby Avenue 32.47
Orange Parks Acres ID#22
South of East Santiago Canyon Road and north
of East Chapman Avenue, encompassing
Orange Park Boulevard.
394.02
Santiago Creek ID#23 South of Villa Park Road and west of Hewes Street. 187.25
The chart below highlights current municipal service provisions to the area.
Service Category Current Service Provider
Sewer City of Orange
Fire Protection & Prevention Orange County Fire Authority Law Enforcement Orange County Sheriff
Solid Waste Collection Ware Disposal/CR&R
Inc./Waste Management
Street Sweeping County of Orange
Library County of Orange
Animal Control County of Orange
Planning County of Orange
Code Enforcement County of Orange
Parks & Recreation OC Parks (Regional)
Education Orange Unified School District (K-12)
County Costs/Revenues
The County has worked with various departments to develop an annual accounting of County General Fund municipal service revenues and expenditures for each of the unincorporated areas. This profile includes a snapshot of the costs to the County to provide municipal services and the revenue generated for the Orange Islands for fiscal year 2023-24. Currently, the Orange Islands result in a yearly negative impact to the County General Fund of approximately $2,099,692 (excluding capital project expenditures). Primary service expenses for the island s include animal control, law enforcement, and infrastructure maintenance.
Property tax revenue allocated to the County general fund is the major revenue source gener ated within the islands, consisting of approximately $360,535 each fiscal year.
Annexation Opportunity
Approval of the a nnexation of the island s to the City by OC LAFCO could result in several benefits to the residents and the commercial area related to City service levels and the proximity of City service providers and emergency responders. The Orange Islands consist of built‐out residential neighborhoods , small commercial area s, and recreational areas with opportunities for additional revenues. Unincorporated islands that are less than 150 acres may be processed by OC LAFCO under the streamlined “small island” provisions of State law which require OC LAFCO to approve the annexation and waive protest proceedings2.
Currently, OC LAFCO is waiving the application fee for cities and providing resources that bridge information gaps and align the efforts of local stakeholders. In part to this, OC LAFCO staff is available to facilitate discussions among stakeholders and participate in community workshops, when requested, to ensure that the residents and landowners are informed on the annexation process. Additionally, the State Board of Equalization currently supports the streamlining of small island annexations (less than 150 acres) through its waiver of the requirement for a map and legal description of the annexation territory.
2Cortese‐Knox‐Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, Section 56375.3 (a)
Orange County Revenue & Expenditure Data
Orange Unincorporated Islands (ID#17-19, #21-23)
0BCounty Revenue (FY 2023-24)
1BIsland 2BIsland ID# 3BSales Tax 4BProperty Tax 5BTotal Taxes 6BEl Modena 7BID# 17 8B$31,109 9B$19,081 10B$50,190
11BLincoln/Glassell 12BID# 18 13Bn/a 14B$23,331 $23,331 16BNorth El Modena 17BID# 19 18Bn/a 19B$ 3,017 20B$3,017 21BOlive Heights 22BID# 21 23B$525,160 24B$5,014 25B$530,174 26BOrange Park Acres 27BID# 22 28B$5,755 29B$309,318 30B$315,073 31BSantiago Creek 32BID# 23 33Bn/a 34B$774 35B$774
36BTotal Revenue:
37B$562,024 38B$360,535 39B$922,559
Potential Property Tax Revenue upon annexation (based on the City/County Master Property Tax Exchange Agreement adopted on October 28, 1980):
40BIsland 41BIsland ID# 42BCity Tax % 43BCounty Tax %
44BCity
Revenue
45BCounty
Revenue
46BEl Modena 47BID# 17 48B51% 49B49% 50B$9,731 51B$9,350 52BLincoln/Glassell 53BID# 18 54B51% 55B49% 56B$11,899 57B$11,432 58BNorth El Modena 59BID# 19 60B51% 61B49% 62B$1,539 63B$1,478 64BOlive Heights 65BID# 21 66B51% 67B49% 68B$2,557 69B$2,456 70BOrange Park
Acres
71BID# 22 72B51% 73B49% 74B$157,752 75B$151,565
76BSantiago Creek 77BID# 23 78B51% 79B49% 80B$395 81B$317
82BCounty Expenditures (FY 2023-24)
Operations and Maintenance
OC
Waste &
Recycling
Animal
Care
Services
Sheriff OCPW
Road
Maint.
OCPW
Infra.
Maint.
Code Enf.
El Modena $4,373 $8,784 $844,007
$109,2861 $189,4972 $73,3333
Lincoln/
Glassell $1,782 $0 $0
North El Modena $415 $715 $156,912
Olive Heights $403 $117 $150,877
Santiago Creek $0 $0 $0
Orange Parks Acres $18,440 $10,927 $324,084 $70,428 $90,529 $44,783 Total Expenditures $25,413 $20,543 $1,475,880 $179,714 $280,026 $118,116 Total Operation and Maintenance Expenditures: $2,099,692
1 Includes the total cost of OCPWD Road Maintenance for the following islands: El Modena, Lincoln Glassel, North El Modena, Olive Heights and Santiago Creek.
2 Includes the total cost of OCPWD Infrastructure Maintenance for the following islands: El Modena, Lincoln Glassel, North El Modena, Olive Heights and Santiago Creek.
3 Includes the total cost of Code Enforcement for the following islands: El Modena, Lincoln Glassel, North El Modena, Olive Heights and Santiago Creek.
El Modena Island (ID #17)
General Information
Sphere of Influence City of Orange
Supervisorial District 2nd
Acreage 101.67
Within City of Orange’s General Plan? Yes
City of Orange’s Pre-zoning Designation Low and Low Medium Density Residential Fire Stations (within 1-mile radius) Orange Fire Station #2 and #4 Parks (within ½ mile radius) El Modena (Orange), La Veta (Orange) Flood Control Channels (miles) .82
Demographics
Population 2,797
Housing Units 684
Lincoln/Glassell Island (ID #18)
General Information
Sphere of Influence City of Orange
Supervisorial District 2nd and 4th
Acreage 103.03
Within City of Orange’s General Plan? Yes
City of Orange’s Pre-zoning Designation Resource area / Open Space Fire Stations (within 1-mile radius) Anaheim Fire Station #5 Parks (within ½ mile radius) Olive, Steve Ambriz Memorial (Orange), Rio Vista (Anaheim)
Flood Control Channels (miles) 1.01
Demographics
Population 0
Housing Units 0
North El Modena Island (ID #19)
General Information
Sphere of Influence City of Orange
Supervisorial District 2nd
Acreage 31.59
Within City of Orange’s General Plan? Yes
City of Orange’s Pre-zoning Designation Low Density Residential Fire Stations (within 1-mile radius) OCFA Fire Station #23 and Orange Fire Stations #2 and #4
Parks (within ½ mile radius) None
Flood Control Channels (miles) .243
Demographics
Population 520
Housing Units 126
Olive Heights Island (ID #21)
General Information
Sphere of Influence City of Orange
Supervisorial District 2nd
Acreage 32.47
Within City of Orange’s General Plan? Yes
City of Orange’s Pre-zoning Designation Low Medium Residential Fire Stations (within 1-mile radius) None
Parks (within ½ mile radius) Eisenhower (Orange), Oliver (Orange) Flood Control Channels (miles) .371
Demographics
Population 500
Housing Units 166
5 Orange Park Acres Island (ID #22)
General Information
Sphere of Influence City of Orange
Supervisorial District 3rd
Acreage 394.02
Within City of Orange’s General Plan? Yes
City of Orange’s Pre-zoning Designation Estate Low-Density Residential Fire Stations (within 1-mile radius) OCFA Fire Station #23 Parks (within ½ mile radius) None
Flood Control Channels (miles) 1.784
Demographics
Population 1,074
Housing Units 386
6 Santiago Creek Island (ID #23)
General Information
Sphere of Influence City of Orange
Supervisorial District 3rd
Acreage 187.25
Within City of Orange’s General Plan? Yes
City of Orange’s Pre-zoning Designation Resource Area/Open Space Fire Stations (within 1-mile radius) OCFA Fire Station #23 and Orange Fire Stations #2 and #4
Parks (within ½ mile radius) Grijalva Community
Flood Control Channels (miles) 1.328
Demographics
Population 0
Housing Units 0