IRVINE : Westpark II Foes Want Election Set

In a discussion Tuesday between the Irvine Co. and Irvine Tomorrow--a slow-growth group trying to block the company’s 3,800-home Westpark II project--opposition leaders said they want the City Council to schedule an election on the project before discussing specifics.

The two sides sat down together for the first time since Irvine Tomorrow successfully gathered enough signatures on a petition in January that forces the council either to overturn its approval of the Westpark II project or put the project before city voters.

Irvine Tomorrow first wants council members to decide which option they favor to avoid appearing as if the group is negotiating changes to the project on behalf of the public, said Christopher B. Mears, the group’s president. Because almost 9,000 residents signed the petition calling for an election, he said, it should be held.

Councilman Bill Vardoulis, who brought the two groups together, had said he hoped the two sides could find a middle ground on the Westpark II project before scheduling an election. That would allow the council simply to overturn its approved plan and allow the Irvine Co. to submit a revised one.

If the council or voters overturn the Westpark II plan, state law mandates that the Irvine Co. would have to wait at least a year before resubmitting a substantially similar plan. However, a different plan could be considered by the council immediately.

Although the bulk of Tuesday’s meeting at City Hall was spent discussing whether the matter should go on the ballot, both sides agreed to meet again April 4. At that meeting, the Irvine Co. will be willing to discuss the seven areas of the approved Westpark II project that Irvine Tomorrow dislikes.

Irvine Tomorrow leaders have said they don’t like the way the current Westpark II plan deals with traffic, electromagnetic waves from nearby power lines, helicopter noise from the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station, affordable housing, zoning for such uses as churches, school financing and the impact of the new subdivision on city services.

The Irvine Co. was prepared Tuesday and will be prepared April 4 to discuss each of those issues, said C. Keith Greer, president of Irvine Community Builders, the company’s residential division.