COUNTYWIDE : Cities Do Battle for Courthouse

The competition among three Orange County cities for a new federal courthouse intensified Monday when the mayor of Santa Ana said the city would donate land for the project and the Irvine Co. similarly offered to donate land in Irvine.

“We’ve had some extraordinary developments in this saga today,” said Rep. Barbara Boxer (D-Greenbrae), who chaired the two-person congressional subcommittee hearing on where the courthouse should be built. “This changes things quite a bit.”

In their bids to secure the $75-million project, officials from Irvine and Santa Ana presented plans that would save the government an estimated $4.5 million in land costs.

The new proposals appeared to hurt the Laguna Niguel plan, which had won support from the General Services Administration because the courthouse could be built on property already owned by the federal government.

The Laguna Niguel plan was further stung by testimony from local and federal bar associations that called the site the “least desirable” of the three locations.

During the Governmental Operations Committee hearing at the Harbor Municipal Courthouse in Irvine, Boxer and Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) listened to the mayors trumpet the benefits of locating in their city.

Santa Ana Mayor Daniel H. Young said his city--the county seat--is best suited to handle the transportation needs required of such a project, with easy access to freeways, a train station and the county’s main bus terminal.

He noted that the city has the largest population base and would be the most convenient location for people going to the courthouse.

He also said that, traditionally, all federal courthouses are built in the county seat where other “support facilities” are nearby.

After his testimony, Young accused the Irvine Co. of trying to “gut the Santa Ana Civic Center” by “stealing the courthouse” away from the city. “We’re offended by it,” he said.

Young said city officials decided last week that they had to respond to the Irvine Co.’s land donation by offering 5 acres of city-owned land in the downtown Civic Center.

Irvine Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan said the Irvine Co. land is “the most compelling location in all of Orange County from every perspective--visibility, accessibility, business growth and ancillary services.”

She said the area around the site, which is in the Irvine Spectrum business center at the junctures of the Santa Ana, San Diego, and Laguna freeways, will continue to grow at a rapid pace both commercially and residentially.

The Laguna Niguel site, located on 92 acres near the City Hall, is best poised to expand in the future, Mayor Patricia C. Bates said.

In a list of “10 Great Reasons” for locating in the city, Bates included its geographic position between Los Angeles and San Diego, available parking space and the potential growth of the area.

After listening to the proposals, Cox declared: “This is very good news for taxpayers . . . this saves about $4.5 million.”

Last month, the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation authorized construction of a 218,000-square-foot federal courthouse in Orange County.

Currently, federal judges in the county work in a leased 30,000-square-foot temporary structure in Santa Ana.

The authorizing legislation lists Santa Ana as the courthouse site, but specifies that the location can be changed before Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.

Cox said the final decision on the courthouse location rests with the Public Works Committee panel on government building and grounds and will be made before the deadline.

After Monday’s hearing, however, Cox said he hasn’t made up his mind and intends to review the oral and written testimony before making a recommendation.