IRVINE : ‘Follow Through’ in 1990, Mayor Says

Familiar topics of the past decade--open space, affordable housing, child care, growth and transportation--will again be prominent in the business of this 18-year-old city in 1990, according to Mayor Larry Agran.

But another familiar phrase, “follow through,” will be a high priority, Agran said.

“It’s one thing to have lofty goals, but it’s another thing to follow through on projects to achieve those goals,” said Agran, a six-year mayor who will face reelection in June.

Irvine’s City Council made headlines in the 1980s by adopting landmark ordinances in the fields of environmental protection, recycling and open space. This year will serve as a checkpoint on the success of those ordinances, Agran said.

By spring, the mayor says, the city will be able to measure a significant reduction of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting substances in the atmosphere, as demanded in Irvine’s environmental protection ordinance adopted last summer. Businesses that do not meet the standards will “answer to the city. But I think we should be able to document substantial progress,” Agran said.

Irvine’s curbside recycling program, which has become a model for other South County cities, will also be stepped up, Agran said.

“More than 70% of our households are currently involved, and we plan to bring in additional households and the commercial sector of the city in 1990,” Agran said.

Two major development projects, parts of the villages of Westpark and Northwood, will come to the City Council in the spring and summer, respectively. Together they will add nearly 7,000 dwelling units to the city and will be closely scrutinized, Agran said. “Our principal concerns with these projects are possible adverse traffic impacts,” he said. “We’ll look to see what are the mitigating provisions.”

Linked to all development in Irvine is dedication of open space, according to a city ordinance adopted in 1989. A total of 17,000 acres of open space is the goal of that ordinance and each development considered by the council will include provisions toward that goal, Agran said.

When the housing element of the city’s general plan comes to the council in March or April, Agran hopes to restate his commitment to affordable housing so city employees, schoolteachers, retail clerks and “all the people who make a city work can afford to live here,” Agran said.

That also goes for affordability in child care, another council commitment. The council has adopted a goal of making affordable child care available to every family who lives and works in Irvine who desires it by 1992.

A $57-million park bond issue will go before Irvine voters March 6 with the blessing of Agran and the City Council. It asks each household for up to $120 a year and needs a two-thirds’ majority to pass.

Agran also listed the opening of the Irvine Theatre in late fall, the first meeting of the city’s new cultural affairs commission in January and the opening of the Amtrak station in the city’s new transportation center in the Irvine Spectrum area as landmark events for 1990.