Irvine Co. Land Swap With U.S. Seen in Next 1 1/2 Years

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said Friday that his agency hopes to complete a land swap with the Irvine Co. within 18 months, giving the giant Orange County property owner 800 acres at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in exchange for land in a pristine wilderness area near Cleveland National Forest.

Both sides said Friday’s announcement is merely the first step in a lengthy bureaucratic process. The Navy, which owns the Marine base, and the Defense Department have to approve the swap. Nevertheless, Babbitt and Orange County officials said the deal could be concluded within 18 months.

Babbitt, who attended a news conference with Irvine Co. and Orange County officials, called the proposed land exchange “one of those happy occasions” on which each side comes out ahead.

Irvine Co. Senior Vice President Monica Florian said that in order for the deal to be finalized “it has to make good business sense for the Irvine Co.” Just how much land the Irvine Co. will give to the Interior Department depends on the appraised value of the El Toro parcels, Florian said.

Sources said the Interior Department expects to get about 2,000 acres of wilderness along a string of canyons stretching east to west on the edge of the national forest from Fremont Canyon to Silverado Canyon.

Under terms announced Friday, the Irvine Co. will get three parcels totaling 800 acres at the southern and northwest corners of the Marine base. Babbitt said the cost of cleaning up toxic wastes on the land set aside for the company will be factored into the appraised value of the properties exchanged.

“We’re ascertaining what needs to be done and factoring it into the exchange,” Babbitt said. “The (cleanup) cost becomes another increment of value in the appraisal of the land.”

Interior Department officials said they intend to keep the property acquired from the company as open space to preserve its biological diversity while making it accessible to the public.

Irvine Co. officials said they hope to develop the El Toro properties for light industrial use. Florian said the firm has no interest in owning or developing a commercial airport planned for the base when the Marines leave. El Toro is scheduled to close by 1999.

If the Irvine Co. gets the 800 acres it wants, it will leave only 800 acres available for further development on the 4,700-acre base. The Interior Department has set aside 1,100 acres as a gnatcatcher preserve and 2,000 acres have been reserved for a commercial airport.