Jail Saga Takes Yet Another New Twist : Corrections: Anaheim mayor says county should scrap plans for Gypsum Canyon. Irvine Co. repeats intentions to build housing on the site.

Anaheim Mayor Fred Hunter said Friday that county officials should once and for all scrap plans to buy Irvine Co. land for a jail in Gypsum Canyon and instead put the facility on county property elsewhere.

“I just can’t believe that some members of the Board of Supervisors have continued to force putting the jail at Gypsum Canyon,” Hunter said. “Why don’t they put it on land they already own . . . and keep their mouths shut and then build the jail?”

The Irvine Co. owns a 2,500-acre parcel in Gypsum Canyon, just east of Anaheim, and county officials are seeking the site for construction of a massive new jail needed to relieve overcrowding in the county system.

The company has long planned to build thousands of single-family houses on the site. But on Thursday, executives told The Times that the firm would be willing to discuss options with county officials.

The report infuriated Gypsum Canyon jail opponents who feared it signaled a change in the company’s position. On Friday, Irvine Co. executives reacted quickly, firing off a letter to supervisors restating their intention to develop homes in the canyon.

Senior Vice President Gary Hunt wrote that the Times report created “some misconceptions” that the company is willing to sell the land. In the same letter, however, Hunt acknowledged that, “As always, we are willing to listen to and meet with the county regarding this issue.”

Such a meeting could occur in the near future, as a majority of supervisors say they plan on Dec. 18 to authorize staff members to begin formal negotiations with the developer.

The prospect of negotiations concerns Anaheim officials.

“The Irvine Co. has assured us that they still want to go forward (with plans for a residential development) . . . but who knows what’s going to happen at the negotiating table?” said Kristine Thalman, intergovernmental relations officer for Anaheim. “So, yes, we have to be cautious.”

Said Hunter: “We’ve been working very closely with the Irvine Co. They have really no intentions of selling Gypsum Canyon to the County of Orange. Sure, they say they will look at all the options, but the way the article came out today, it caused a lot of furor in my city. A lot of people were upset.”

Some county officials speculated that the Irvine Co.’s letter Friday was designed to appease Anaheim officials, who are fiercely opposed to building a jail in their back yard.

County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider and others even suggested that the company’s reaction was part of an effort to increase the value of the land.

“I would say they are in a difficult spot in terms of walking the line between the City of Anaheim and the county,” Schneider said. “If they sell it to us, they are in trouble with the city of Anaheim and the Anaheim council and with two of our board members. And if they don’t sell it to us they’re in trouble with three (supervisors).”

Supervisor Roger Stanton, who supports jail construction in Gypsum Canyon, added: “The letter to me says someone is taking shots at them, and if someone did that (on Friday) then that is irresponsible and the Irvine Co. is trying to be responsible.”

Company Vice President Hunt said Schneider is mistaken if he believes that the letter was meant as a bargaining chip.

“That’s absolutely inaccurate,” Hunt said. “Our business is building planned communities. . . . Our goal is not to go into this process to increase the value of the land, our goal is to go through this process to build a planned community.”

The supervisors, under growing pressure to relieve overcrowding in the county’s jail system, have not been able to come up with the necessary four votes to acquire the land through condemnation--the taking of property from an unwilling seller.

Stanton chided Anaheim officials for presenting another roadblock in the long quest to solve the jail overcrowding mess.

“I would only like to say to Mayor Fred Hunter and the other council members: ‘Wake up and realize that Measure A that was on the June ballot (to put the jail in Santa Ana, thus killing the Gypsum Canyon proposal) . . . did not pass in the City of Anaheim. That means that the vast majority of people in your city couldn’t give a darn that that jail is in Anaheim or not. They just want a jail built,’ ” he said.

“Once they get that past their noses, maybe they’ll leave the Irvine Co. alone, the county alone and let the county get on with the business of building the jail which is much needed,” Stanton said. “I understand their position, but the county has an obligation to discuss this matter. Whatever we have to do to get the land we will do. Whatever the Irvine Co. has to do to comply with the environment around it, including the political environment, they will do.”