Irvine Asks Air Base to Take Off : Controversy: Mayor Larry Agran stuns military officials by calling for the relocation of the Tustin U.S. Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station.

IRVINE--The big, khaki Marine Corps helicopters that are a daily fixture in the sky over Irvine have periodically whipped up complaints from residents in the homes beneath the flight paths.

In the past, city officials have acknowledged the grumbles, conducting talks with officials at the Tustin U.S. Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station to try to ease some of the concerns about noise and safety.

Now, however, officials are moving toward a far tougher stance--asking that the base itself be relocated from the spreading suburbia.

Mayor Larry Agran and several council members, among them his chief opponent in the upcoming mayoral race in June, are talking as though it is only a matter of time before the helicopter flights are eliminated.

“I think we should press for the earliest possible relocation,” Agran said. “The longer we wait, the more we raise the risks that some sort of catastrophic accident can occur leading to injury and even death of innocent bystanders.”

Such declarations have taken Marine Corps officials aback. They are quick to note that there have been no civilian fatalities in Irvine caused by military helicopters. In addition, many of the problems with noise and safety are in the process of being addressed, they insist.

Col. Jack Wagner, community liaison officer for the military base, pointed out that a special task force made up of Irvine residents concluded a yearlong study of the issue in February, with one of the chief recommendations being that the Marines try to fly a little higher to ease the noise.

“They didn’t ask for the Marines to leave,” Wagner said. “I don’t believe it’s angry residents who are calling for this. . . . I guess I’m disappointed that the task force’s recommendations weren’t satisfactory to the mayor.”

Indeed, it remains unclear just where the hearts and minds of Irvine’s residents lie on the issue.

“I don’t think our residents, by and large, are clamoring for the base to move,” said Bill Mavity, a resident troubled by the helicopter noise and a task force member. “If it can be amicably worked out, that’s fine. But you’re not going to find me jumping up and down on my chair saying ‘Leave! Leave! I’m here now!’ ”

Meanwhile, city officials in Tustin, which incorporated the base a decade ago, seem resolved to oppose efforts to uproot it.

“We can understand--they’re getting complaints from residents,” said Tustin City Manager William A. Huston. “But the notion that the base ought to be shut down because people are complaining isn’t anything that we’ll be looking to support.”

While the Irvine council hasn’t taken any concrete vote on the issue, City Manager Paul Brady Jr. has, at the council’s direction, written a letter to broach the idea with military officials at the Tustin base. Agran said he expects the full council to discuss the issue after the election in June, hold talks with military leaders and press ahead with efforts to line up support among the area’s congressional delegation in Washington.

As the Irvine leaders see it, the development that hems in the base has made the helicopter flights incompatible with residential living. Originally established as a blimp base half a century ago, the Tustin facility has been home to military helicopters since 1950, serving as the prime training spot on the West Coast.

The city gets about half a dozen complaints a week from residents upset about the noise, and officials remain concerned about the potential for disaster.

“The fact of the matter is that while the mission of the Marines posed no conflict even 25 years ago, today we have a city of over 100,000 people who are, on a daily basis, being adversely affected by these helicopter overflights,” Agran said. “It’s time to arrange for relocation of the base on a timetable that is acceptable to everyone.”

Irvine’s effort comes as Congress is eyeing the closing of military bases to save money. Although the Tustin facility is not on the list, efforts by local communities to uproot it could suddenly change that, Agran suggested.

Councilwoman Sally Anne Sheridan, an Agran foe and his chief opponent in the mayor’s race, said she would simply like to see the helicopter operations at the base end, leaving the facility open for housing servicemen or some other function.

“I think it’s a timely matter since it’s just getting in the way of our community,” Sheridan said. “The next year or so would be a fine time for the move. Knowing how government works, however, it will probably take longer than that.”

But Marine officials say the whole proposal is out of the question.

“We have had a good, close working relationship with the cities of Irvine and Tustin,” Wagner said. “We would be glad to sit down in a serious environment and discuss any concerns. But you just don’t uproot a helicopter base and relocate it somewhere else. The costs associated with that would be phenomenal.”

The Marine Corps has about nine different routes it uses for helicopters to reach various training grounds throughout the Southland. But the bulk of the complaints have been generated by residents in Woodbridge and other Irvine neighborhoods underneath a corridor linking the Marine base with the sea.

Authorities have considered re-routing the flights north along Jamboree Road, into the Cleveland National Forest, through Camp Pendleton and then to the ocean training grounds. But military officials say the fuel costs would be prohibitive.

“You wouldn’t want to go to San Francisco via St. Louis. That’s what it would be like,” said Wagner. “The U.S. taxpayer would be paying a heavy burden.”