Board Moves Ahead on South County Complex : Government: County supervisors hope private developers will join them in developing a project to bring more services to a fast-growing area.

County supervisors voted Tuesday to move ahead with a massive South County government complex, a project that officials hope the private sector will join them in developing.

Advocates hope the facility will provide a hub for an array of government services in South County, where growth has overwhelmed some county operations in recent years. Courtrooms are overflowing, and South County residents in need of services often have to travel to Santa Ana.

Those findings highlighted a county administrative office report, reviewed by the board members Tuesday, that laid the groundwork for the vote.

“This report indicates that there’s a need for a facility in South County,” said Board Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez, who represents parts of the region that would be served by the new facility. “I don’t think anyone disputes that.”

Although the supervisors approved moving ahead with the project, their unanimous vote did not commit them to building the facility, which is estimated to cost $186 million. They did, however, authorize spending another $392,000 to pay for final development plans.

That money will come from a special courthouse construction fund.

Ronald S. Rubino, associate county administrative officer for management and budget, presented the board with results of the study indicating a growing need for a South County government center. The study, he said, confirmed that while the most pressing need is for additional court space, other county functions--such as health care, social services and police services--could also make use of a South County facility.

The supervisors agreed, but the North County board members--Don R. Roth, Roger R. Stanton and Harriett M. Wieder--expressed some reservations about taking on such a big project during a tight budget time.

Stanton worried that approving the project in concept and authorizing development of a final plan might end up committing $1 million toward its construction, a prospect that he opposed. But Rubino assured him that only the $392,000 was being authorized Tuesday, and that future appropriations would have to return to the board for final approval.

Wieder initially appeared to be leaning against moving forward with the project. “There’s too many question marks and too many ifs,” she told her colleagues at the beginning of Tuesday’s debate.

In particular, Wieder noted that no site has yet been identified for the building and no money exists in the county budget to pay for it.

Rubino, however, said he believed developers may step forward to help the county build the facility, in return for which they would profit from construction of a major new business and government complex in South County.

Several board members have urged more cooperative undertakings between the public and private sectors, and they eagerly endorsed that approach to the proposed South County civic center project. Rubino and Riley both said they have been approached by developers interested in pursuing the idea.

“I’ve had to fight them off,” Rubino told the board without elaboration.

Pamela Iles, presiding judge of the South County Municipal Court and a leading advocate of the new civic center, said she too has been approached by interested developers. She predicted that many would respond to the county’s plan to solicit written expressions of interest during the coming months.