County Votes to Bar Irvine From Sharing in Highway Funds

In a move that Irvine Mayor Larry Agran blasted as “petty and punitive,” the County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to deny the city of Irvine any share of county highway funds, an action that could cost the rapidly growing city more than $4 million needed for new road construction.

Irvine thus joins Laguna Beach as the only cities in the county deemed ineligible to collect a share of the state gas tax monies received by the county each year. County officials say the road improvement plans of both cities are not compatible with the county’s own master plan for roads. Until those inconsistencies are corrected, they contend that neither Irvine nor Laguna Beach should receive any county highway funds for fiscal 1989-90.

The money can be used only to build new streets or improve existing roads considered by the county as major thoroughfares.

While Laguna Beach officials say they need the money, the loss of funds is not viewed as critical because officials say the city is nearly developed and the need for new roads is not as pressing.

But for Irvine, the loss of the highway money is considered a significant setback because the city is one of the county’s fastest growing, situated in the heart of the commuter flow from south county to major employment centers in and around John Wayne Airport.

The denial of funds from the county’s Arterial Highway Financing Program could also jeopardize other revenue sources for new road construction, said Irvine’s Assistant City Manager Paul Brady.

Irvine officials argue that their road plan has differed with that of the county for more than a decade, yet they have always received a share of the county’s gas tax money. To begin withholding that money now, Agran charged, is “petty politics.” He said the city’s current administration is being held accountable for a “historic anomaly” that dates to the mid-1970s.

“To reach back and indict the first or second City Council and then penalize us is wrong, very wrong,” Agran said following Tuesday’s unanimous vote by the supervisors to deny the city of Irvine any portion of the $9.8 million in gas tax monies the county will dole out to cities for new road projects.

“We have cooperated with the county on 98% of the road projects in this part of the county,” the mayor said. “To pull this kind of petty and punitive move is disappointing to say the least.”

County Administrative Officer Larry Parrish said he had no sympathy for Irvine officials, particularly Agran. He said the county has “patiently waited” for Irvine to bring its road improvement plan into conformance with the county’s. When they failed to do so, Parrish said, the county had no choice but to force the issue by withholding the highway funds.

As for Agran, Parrish said, he was “tired of his antics” and his posturing as a “good guy.”

“I get a little hot under the collar when the city of Irvine presents its mayor as the most cooperative, calm, enlightened man in the known world,” Parrish said. “That is so far from the truth.”

As for Agran’s assertion that Irvine has been supportive of county transportation proposals, Parrish laughed, then said:

“They have attempted to undermine and thwart most of our ideas, while their city has produced the density and development that clogs our freeways. If (Agran) believes this is political, he ought to know. He gives as good as he gets.”

The controversy is rooted in what Irvine plans to do with Culver Drive and Trabuco Road. The county wants the city to eventually extend Culver over the San Joaquin Hills to Coast Highway to serve as a link between Irvine and the coast. But the city’s road plans show Culver ending at Bonita Canyon Drive and the proposed San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor. The county also wants Trabuco Road, considered a major commuter route between south county and central Orange County, eventually widened by the city. But the city’s road plan does not call for such improvements.

Agran said those improvements may be made at some point, but the city does not plan to “be rushed” into any decisions.

“The county needs us more than we need them,” Agran said. “Any transportation plan for south county has to go through us. We will just wait for the county to come back to us. They always do.”

The county’s highway fund for the 1989-90 fiscal year, which begins July 1, is $9.8 million. The supervisors approved that the money be spent to pay for 47 projects in 24 cities. Anaheim will get the most money, up to $600,000 for improvements to Anaheim Boulevard from Cypress Street and Lemon Street.

Laguna Beach was ruled ineligible for those funds last year. The problem between the county and city is over a section of El Toro Road just north of the San Joaquin Hills corridor. The two sides have apparently reached a compromise on the dispute, but Laguna Beach has not submitted documents to show that it is now in compliance with the county’s plan.