LAKE FOREST

City and county officials have suggested a time frame for annexation of eastside communities in the city’s sphere of influence. To vote in the November 2000 City Council elections, Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills residents would have to become Lake Forest citizens by October of that year, officials said. Annexation would have to take place as early as June 2000 to make eastside residents eligible to run for council seats, said City Manager Bob Dunek at a town hall meeting last week.

The city has yet to apply to the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission for permission to annex communities in its sphere of influence. The commission would take four to six months to process the city’s application, policy analyst Dan Schwarz said.