Irvine Co. to Seek 800 Acres of El Toro Base : Land use: The deal, to be discussed with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt today, calls for a swap of 2,000 acres of wilderness owned by the giant developer near the Cleveland National Forest.

Irvine Co. officials today are expected to offer to exchange up to 2,000 acres of pristine wilderness near the Cleveland National Forest for 800 acres on the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station when company officials meet with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt.

It is the first clear indication from Irvine Co. officials of how much of the 4,700-acre base they are interested in getting, since word of the proposed land swap first leaked out six months ago. Previously, Irvine Co. Executive Vice President Gary Hunt had said only that the company was not interested in the base property earmarked for an airport.

But Irvine Mayor Michael Ward said Thursday that he was told earlier in the week by officials of the giant land developer that they are interested in acquiring 800 acres on the Marine base and that 300 lie inside the Irvine city limits.

Details of the proposed exchange are expected to be discussed today at a news conference by Babbitt and Irvine Co. officials in Santa Ana.

“They (Irvine Co. officials) called me a few days ago and told me about their plans, because 300 acres of the land they want to acquire lie inside our city,” Ward said. “They assured me that the 800 acres will be included in the planning process for the base.”

Dan Miller, executive director of the planning agency formed last year to develop the El Toro base, said that the Irvine Co. had expressed an interest in acquiring property at the south end of the base, inside the Irvine city limits and next to the Irvine Spectrum, a 3,600-acre research and industrial park owned by the Irvine Co.

“They were looking at land that lies away from the runway to develop for light industrial use,” said Miller.

Irvine Co. spokesman Larry Thomas declined to comment in much detail on the land swap, reserving his remarks until today’s news conference.

Interior Department spokesman Jay Ziegler also declined to comment on the specifics of the proposed land exchange.

“The land that the Interior Department would like to turn over to the Irvine Co. is . . . not necessarily contiguous parcels on the perimeter of the base,” Ziegler said. “We have not developed a final proposal at this time.”

However, Ziegler said that Babbitt is expected to have a final proposal in hand when he meets with Irvine Co. officials today.

Sources familiar with the land swap proposal said that the Interior Department will select the 2,000 acres from the 9,500 acres of land owned by the Irvine Co. near the Cleveland National Forest that it has been studying.

The U.S officials will list in order the areas they are interested in swapping for land owned by the developer, beginning with Fremont Canyon, sources said. In September, Ziegler said that the Interior Department was also interested in land owned by the Irvine Co. near Weir and Gypsum canyons. However, sources said those areas are no longer high on the Interior Department wish list.

Ziegler said the size of the Irvine Co. land received by the federal government will depend on the appraised value of the El Toro property deeded to the company. The property sought by the Interior Department in the proposed deal is zoned for development, but federal authorities want to preserve it as open space, Ziegler said.

Several sticky points still need to be negotiated, even if a land swap is approved by both sides, sources said. Among them is the cost of cleaning up toxic wastes on El Toro property acquired by the Irvine Co. The Irvine Co. is expected to ask the U.S. government to pick up the cost of removing toxic waste from property deeded to the company in a land exchange.

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If the Irvine Co. acquires the 800 acres, it will only leave about 800 acres available for development on the Marine base. Last year, the Interior Department announced it will set aside 1,100 acres on the base as a gnatcatcher preserve. In addition, Measure A, which was approved by voters in November, requires the county to set aside 2,000 acres of the base for a commercial airport to be built when the Marines leave. El Toro is scheduled to close in 1999.

Meanwhile, opponents in the fight to keep the El Toro base open were bracing for the release next week of the 1995 list of military bases targeted for closure or realignment. Orange County residents who want the base to remain open are hoping that the commission will reconsider the 1993 recommendation to close the base.

Rumors flew on Thursday about the future of the Tustin and El Toro Marine bases. A Riverside County planning group--composed of three city and county officials--asked the Secretary of Defense to move the helicopters at the Tustin base to March Air Force Base, instead of San Diego, when the Tustin base closes in 1997.

The group, which is drafting a land use plan for the base, made the request in a Feb. 15 letter. Riverside City Councilwoman Joy Defenbaugh, who is chairwoman of the group, said they have not received a reply from Defense Secretary William J. Perry.

Doyle Selden, an Orange County resident who wants to keep the El Toro base open, sent a letter to the commission studying base closures and realignment for 1995, requesting that El Toro remain open as a base for Marine helicopters and C-130 aircraft.

Selden, who has close ties to the Marine base, asked the commission to consider transferring helicopters from various Marine bases to El Toro, keeping the C-130 aircraft currently assigned to the base and retaining the headquarters for the commander of Marine air forces on the West Coast. Selden said his proposal would save taxpayers about $1.8 billion.