County Yields to Tustin Over Potential Uses of Base : Conversion: Plans for work furlough jail, second juvenile hall and alcohol recovery center dropped.

Faced with opposition from Tustin leaders, Orange County officials have backed away from a plan to build a work furlough jail facility, a second juvenile hall and an alcohol recovery center at the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station.

Instead, county staff members on Wednesday recommended a revised proposal that would move the county’s animal control facility to the base when it closes in 1997.

County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider said the shift in the county’s plan comes after months of negotiations with Tustin officials over a list of potential uses for the 1,620-acre helicopter base.

“Without Tustin’s support for those facilities, there’s a high probability our application would be denied,” Schneider said. “In the spirit of cooperation and negotiation, we have agreed that if Tustin will accept part of the list, then we’ll withdraw the most offensive parts of that list.”

In addition to moving the animal control center from Orange, the county also has suggested that a family resource center, a child-care shelter, a regional law enforcement training center and an urban regional park be placed at the Tustin base.

The new plan, including withdrawal of the detention and sobering-up facilities, will be presented to the Board of Supervisors for consideration on Tuesday.

“It’s an adjustment based on reality,” Schneider said.

The U.S. Department of the Navy eventually will make a final determination on conversion of the Marine base after reviewing the recommendations of local officials and residents.

Tustin officials greeted the county’s proposed shift for the base with support.

“The county has been cooperating with us very well,” said Tustin Mayor Thomas R. Saltarelli, chairman of the 16-member City Council-appointed Base Closure Task Force. “We’re very close, if not there already, in reaching what we all believe to be a constructive compromise for the uses of the base.”

Proposals for the detention and alcohol recovery facilities were just “not appropriate” with the other uses envisioned for the base, Saltarelli said.

Relocation of the animal shelter from its present Orange site would free up that land for other county uses. The Orange site, however, remains a source of controversy involving proposed expansion plans at the nearby Theo Lacy Jail.

Local officials hope to submit a final reuse plan to the Navy later this year. It could take another year beyond that for approval.

Land and buildings at closed military bases can be given or sold at below-market prices to local governments as long as the federal government approves of their future uses, according to federal law.