El Toro Base Plan Pleases Almost No One : Conversion: Dissatisfied North and South County officials did not rule out challenging the proposal by two county supervisors and Irvine council members who say it has the best chance of working.

Faced with the task of devising a redevelopment committee for the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station that everyone could agree on, two county supervisors and Irvine council members instead came up with a plan this week that almost no one likes.

As word of the agreement spread throughout the county Friday--one day after the proposal was announced--North and South County officials competing for control over planning El Toro’s future seemed equally dissatisfied, and neither side ruled out challenges to the latest plan.

The South County cities nearest the base bordered on feeling betrayed, because their one-time ally, the city of Irvine, cut its own deal with the county.

And North County cities seeking improved representation on the planning board instead saw their influence further diminished from earlier plans.

But after months of indecision and political turbulence among county and city leaders over who will lead the base conversion planning, county and Irvine officials said Friday that their proposal has the best chance of working.

It is the only plan offered to date that is backed by both Irvine and the county--two key players that must be included for the plan to win federal approval, Irvine Mayor Michael Ward said.

“South County cities are mad because they see it as a 5-4 vote (on the proposed governing board) against them, and North County cities see it as a 6-3 vote against them,” Ward said. “I guess if both sides are a little mad, it must be a pretty good deal.”

North County cities favor a commercial airport at El Toro, which is adamantly opposed by South County cities.

“Every possible scenario has been analyzed to death. It’s time to move forward,” said Supervisor William G. Steiner, who negotiated the deal with Supervisor Roger R. Stanton and Irvine officials. “It’s not a perfect strategy, but it’s a starting point. . . . Maybe we have achieved a middle ground here.”

In a letter recommending the approval of the plan by the entire Board of Supervisors, Stanton and Steiner said the proposal “insures that re-use decisions will reflect a countywide perspective, balancing the legitimate local concerns of South County cities with recognition of El Toro’s importance for regional economic benefits.”

Earlier, the two supervisors praised the plan because the cities most affected by the base redevelopment “will be calling the shots,” and the entire five-member Board of Supervisors will have a leadership role, “doing the job that it’s elected to do.”

The proposed agency for planning the conversion to civilian use of the 4,700-acre Marine base would include the five county supervisors, three representatives from Irvine, and one from Lake Forest. This group would consider at least three redevelopment options before approving a final plan.

A lower-level council, made up of representatives from all Orange County cities, as well as business and civic groups, will initially screen base conversion proposals.

Irvine gave up its demand for five votes on the decision-making board in exchange for a commitment from the county it will be allowed to annex the base area by January, 1999.

Board Chairman Harriett M. Wieder said she supports the agreement, which shows the county is “taking charge” of the issue. But she expressed concern about granting Irvine the right to annex the base by January, 1999.

“I think any decision on annexation is premature,” Wieder said. “Let’s take one thing at a time.” Stanton later said that part of the agreement is not a “done deal.”

In keeping with Irvine’s condition that the county respond to the proposed agreement by Dec. 17, the supervisors have scheduled a vote for Tuesday.

But a group of 15 North County cities and the South County city of Dana Point announced Friday they would seek a 30-day postponement of the supervisors’ vote to have time to learn the details and consider the plan’s ramifications.

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After caucusing for almost two hours at Santa Ana City Hall, the cities, as a group, stopped short of opposing the plan.

“The overpowering sense of the group was that they want an inclusive process and that this latest proposal is not necessarily inclusive,” said Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly, the group’s spokesman.

Stanton Councilman Harry Dotson was more to the point. “I think the plan stinks, because it does not include all Orange County cities. . .”

Although Daly was in frequent contact with Steiner throughout the negotiations, he said that he did not sign off on the current plan.

The North County cities previously backed a plan proposed by Daly that included the five county supervisors, a city representative from each supervisorial district, and Irvine. Most of the earlier proposals included seats for Anaheim and Newport Beach.

“They had their opportunity,” Ward said, adding that the North County cities kept pushing for more but ended up with less.

Stanton and Steiner vowed there would be no postponement of the vote.

“We have got a deal and I am keeping my word on it,” Stanton said.

He also took issue with Daly’s criticism. “It’s disingenuous to say that there’s no process of inclusion here,” Stanton said.

In South County, where a coalition of seven cities had threatened at one point to break away from the county and form their own planning agency, officials refused to publicly comment on the merits of the plan negotiated by Irvine.

Lake Forest Mayor Ann Van Haun, who privately complained to Irvine officials about being left out of the negotiations, said she was “not particularly happy with the plan, but if that’s our back-to-the-wall position, I would have to take a look at it.”

“I don’t think South County really should worry because Irvine has always shared their concerns. We have been at the table with them, and we have been with them for six months,” Ward said.

Staff writer Kevin Johnson contributed to this story.