Irvine Staff Throws a Wrench in El Toro Board Plan : Commitment in Writing Requested on Annexation; Wieder Says City Is ‘Getting a Little Too Hoggish’

The plan touted as the best possible compromise in the political fight over the future of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station was thrown into question Friday when Irvine officials demanded that the Board of Supervisors put in writing the promises they say were made to the city during secret negotiations.

An Irvine city staff report released Friday listed a host of written commitments the city is demanding from the county, including a “commitment to allow the annexation of (the base by Irvine) prior to January, 1999.”

But given the county’s reluctance so far to formally commit to that and other points--verbally promising only “discussions” about a possible annexation by Irvine--it was unclear late Friday whether the latest development was a deal breaker.

Irvine City Councilman Barry J. Hammond, who helped negotiate the agreement, said the city has lost millions of dollars in potential tax revenue from being on the losing end of previous annexation disputes with the county, and is determined to not lose its battle to incorporate the 4,700-acre base within its city limits when the Marines move out sometime before 1999.

“We need to get resolution on how we are going to move ahead” with annexation, Hammond said. “If we cannot get that, that’s a deal breaker.”

Irvine Mayor Michael Ward, however, took a less threatening stand, saying the city simply wants what he contends the county’s negotiators already agreed to verbally: “Seriously talk to us to get annexation by a certain date.”

The language in the staff report released Friday “may be toned down by the time it gets to the council” for a vote on Irvine’s next move scheduled for Tuesday, Ward added.

Supervisor William G. Steiner, one of the county’s key negotiators, took time to study the Irvine staff report Friday, but declined to comment.

Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder, however, said she was “disheartened” that Irvine was pressing the annexation issue. Even though Irvine’s message was sent out through a staff report, she said it would not have been written without the approval of the council leadership.

“They are really causing the plan to go down the tubes. They are getting a little too hoggish,” Wieder said.

Working to hold the deal together, County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider and Irvine City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. met late Friday afternoon and agreed to try to “clarify” the annexation issue before the council meets Tuesday.

“I am prepared to recommend to the Board of Supervisors that we enter into the discussions on the process of annexation. Not that we are agreeing to annexation, but that we would enter into the discussions, as we would with any other jurisdiction,” Schneider said.

Irvine council members had been expected to formally endorse the compromise agreement Tuesday, and Schneider said he hoped that would still occur.

But in the city staff report released Friday, council members were being urged to send a letter to the supervisors asking for a written confirmation of their deal by Jan. 18.

The negotiating points should be in writing, “so that future supervisors follow the procedure,” Ward said. At least two of the five supervisors are expected to leave the board after the November election.

The annexation issue “is very important to us,” Hammond said in a separate interview. “We want to make sure that we, as a city, are the ultimate decision maker and have the ultimate control over the areas that are in our sphere of influence and that are ultimately going to be in our city limits.”

The supervisors purposely omitted the annexation issue from their motion last month when they approved formation of an El Toro planning board comprised of the five supervisors, three representatives from Irvine and one from Lake Forest.

County officials said after the board vote that they would not commit outright to Irvine’s annexation of the base and other nearby land.

Having watched the county’s tax base erode in recent years, primarily due to the formation of new South County cities, officials said the county will not give away the land without negotiating a share of the tax revenue expected to come from the land’s redevelopment.

Schneider said after his meeting with the Irvine city manager that the county cannot agree to annexation until after the base conversion plan is adopted. If the El Toro agency decides to turn the base into a commercial airport, then it has to remain under the county’s control, and Irvine cannot annex the property, Schneider said.

The terms of a $300-million bond issue for the John Wayne Airport expansion required that if another airport was developed in Orange County, its operations could not compete with John Wayne, and the county would have to operate both facilities.

Schneider also said the county would negotiate a possible annexation agreement with Irvine if the city agrees to “put all tax revenues on the table,” including property, sales and hotel occupancy taxes.

The proposed draft of the letter to be considered by the Irvine council states that the city’s agreement to join the El Toro agency “was predicated upon confirmation by the (supervisors) on several important points which were not entirely identified as part of the (supervisors’) action.”

In addition to seeking permission to annex the base, Irvine says it received the county’s commitment on other key points, including:

* A provision that the El Toro board would adopt “impact criteria,” so that any redevelopment plan cannot be approved unless it meets certain requirements designed to mitigate the impact on surrounding communities.

* The formation of a legally binding, three-tier “joint powers authority,” consisting of a board of directors, an executive council made up of all 31 Orange County cities, several South County communities in unincorporated areas, business groups and up to 10 advisory committees.

Although the county had assumed that Supervisor Thomas F. Riley would serve as the agency chairman and Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez would be vice chairman, Irvine officials said both positions should “be shared” among the county, Irvine and Lake Forest.

Irvine also wants the base conversion plan to be comprehensive, so that the necessary planning, zoning and environmental studies for the site are ready for approval by the county and Irvine.

The negotiated agreement “represents the final position of the city of Irvine,” according to the staff report.

If an impasse develops, it could reopen once again the contentious debate that has raged for six months over which government agencies will plan the future use of El Toro, possibly to the benefit of the North County cities that have been denied seats on the governing board under the latest plan.

Supervisor Roger R. Stanton warned recently that if the agreement with Irvine fell apart, the county would consider forming an 11-member planning board made up of the five supervisors, a city representative from each of the five supervisorial districts, and an 11th member chosen by the other 10 members.

The Lake Forest City Council, which did not participate in the negotiations that led to the agreement, has refused to officially join the agency until it receives documents detailing the pact.

While several other cities have sought seats on the decision-making board, there is universal agreement that the county and Irvine are the two agencies that must be included if the plan is to win Defense Department approval, since they share land-use authority over the site.