Cities and County Reach Accord on El Toro : Marine base: Irvine and Lake Forest given large voice in agreement on planning future use of the air station.

In what amounted to an expression of relief, two Orange County supervisors announced Monday that they had reached an agreement with South County cities on a leadership structure that would oversee redevelopment planning for the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

The long-awaited deal, forged late last week after months of bitter negotiations, obligates the county to share final authority on future base planning with eight local cities.

“We’re at a point that, at one time, I had my doubts we would ever reach,” said Supervisor Thomas F. Riley. “But somebody upstairs was good enough to make sure that good people got together to give us a boost.”

Cities involved in the negotiations appeared to be delighted over the outcome.

One county official noted that the agreement required a politically “painful” compromise by the county.

The county took a “very big step,” Irvine Mayor Michael Ward said. “I think they realized they were going to have to . . . and it was brave of them to do so.”

Although details of the agreement are not expected to be published for at least two weeks, most of the authority over redevelopment planning would be placed in the hands of a governing board of directors dominated by a group of South County cities and the county.

The agreement is essentially a hybrid of earlier proposals advanced by the county and two groups of cities, one favoring and the other opposing conversion of the base into a commercial airport.

Sources said the county and Irvine would each be assigned four votes on the governing board, while Lake Forest would get three. The board’s remaining members, Newport Beach, Anaheim, Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo, Tustin and Laguna Niguel would each get one vote. A final redevelopment plan would require approval by a two-thirds majority, or 12 votes.

The roles of the North and West County cities that favor a commercial airport at El Toro are largely diminished under the new agreement.

With the exception of Anaheim and Newport Beach, the North and West County cities will only be represented on an executive council that will help recommend conversion plans to the top governing board for approval.

At the executive council level, the cities would share advisory positions with business groups and the communities of Aliso Viejo/North Laguna Hills, Leisure World, Foothill Ranch/Portola Hills and Rancho Santa Margarita/Coto de Caza. The cities would have from two to eight votes each, depending upon their proximity to the base.

Under the agreement, the county will give up its claim to having sole authority on the final base conversion plan, a point that had been hotly opposed by the South County cities from the start.

Although the South County cities are not guaranteed the 12 votes needed to approve a plan before the governing board, the cities of Irvine and Lake Forest could join forces and effectively veto any plans they opposed.

On the other hand, noted Irvine Councilman Barry J. Hammond, both sides on the airport issue must forge a compromise for any plan to pass. “If you took all the South County votes, that’s still not enough (for South County) to do anything. You still have to get consensus of two non-South County cities or the county of Orange. That’s a lot of consensus to get.”

The new structure was not winning plaudits from North and West county cities.

“It’s a recipe for gridlock,” said Garden Grove Councilman Mark Leyes, interim chairman of the Orange County Regional Airport Authority. “I think Halloween has come a little early . . . . “

Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, who with Riley helped negotiate the settlement, did not agree that the deal marked a victory for South County cities.

“It was a matter of recognizing that if we don’t get together on this, the federal government was going to do it for us,” Vasquez said. “I have a sense that everyone would like to see this get on track and moving. We can either reap the benefits of this process or we can suffer from it.”

The agreement is still subject to approval by the Board of Supervisors and the eight cities on the governing board.

“I would be greatly disappointed if we did not have the endorsement of the board,” Riley said.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Harriett M. Wieder and Supervisor William G. Steiner said the agreement, while encouraging, still left some unanswered questions.

“I don’t want to see the county give up its responsibilities,” Wieder said. “What I have seen is a shadow of a plan . . . but it is encouraging that they came to some agreement.”

Steiner said the agreement would win his support “as long as the deck was not stacked or biased in favor of a certain reuse plan. I am in favor of sharing land-use authority. It looks like a step in the right direction.”

South County city council members defended the plan, saying it will provide an objective review of all base conversion options and invites every city to the negotiating table.

“I believe that if the other (North and West County) cities have an opportunity to review the proposal, they too will end up supporting this proposal,” Laguna Hills Councilwoman Melody Carruth said.

“I am extremely pleased that the county came through with this proposal,” she said.

The euphoria enjoyed by the chief negotiators, however, was not shared countywide.

The plan counts on getting participation from Anaheim, Newport Beach and Tustin, but those cities were not included in the negotiations.

Newport Beach Mayor Clarence J. Turner said he had not seen the agreement but was not happy with what he had heard it contains.

He said he wants a plan that requires the approval of the entire Board of Supervisors and allows for equal representation of all cities.

The agreement, Turner said, “is not something that I think our citizens would buy into.” He repeated his support for the development of an alternative plan that would be placed on a countywide ballot for voters to decide.

Anaheim officials could not be reached for comment.

Hammond of Irvine said that should Newport Beach decide not to join the authority, the members could decide to fill that seat with another city, such as Costa Mesa or Huntington Beach.

“I think it would be sad for Newport Beach, because it’s a fair process,” Hammond said. “I honestly think we are here. We may have a player change . . . however, I don’t see that happening.”

Deciding El Toro’s Future Orange County and South County cities have agreed on a leadership structure that will decide what to do with the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. It took several months of acrimonious negotiation to create this three-tiered agency. How each tier works: Board of Directors Where Final Decisions Are Made * Made up of representatives from Orange County and eight cities * Reviews three conversion plans submitted by executive council * Requires a two-thirds majority vote on a final conversion plan * Decides who will implement the plan How many votes each board member gets: Orange County: 4 Irvine: 4 Lake Forest: 3 Laguna Hills: 1 Laguna Niguel: 1 Mission Viejo: 1 Anaheim: 1 Newport Beach: 1 Tustin: 1 Executive Council Where Recommendations Are Made * Made up of business and community groups and representatives of all 31 Orange County cities * Chooses three conversion plans, submits them to board of directors * Communities are allocated votes depending on proximity to base How many votes each group gets: Orange County and all 31 cities: Two to eight votes each; number of votes a city gets is based on proximity to base Business groups: Four votes each Building Industry Assn. of Orange County Industrial League of Orange County Irvine Chamber of Commerce Irvine Co. Orange County Chamber of Commerce South Orange County Chambers of Commerce Unincorporated communities: Six votes each Aliso Viejo/North Laguna Hills Leisure World Foothill Ranch/Portola Hills Rancho Santa Margarita/Coto de Caza Advisory Committees Where Options Are Explored * Review several conversion ideas, pass them on to executive council * Nine advisory committees devoted to subjects ranging from parks to aviation Committee topics: High-tech industry Housing Commercial Environmental Education Aviation Arts and culture Transportation Parks and recreation Sources: County of Orange, individual cities; Researched by GEBE MARTINEZ / Los Angeles Times