Ceding of Base to O.C. Proposed : Land use: South County cities oppose bill by Rep. Ed Royce for free transfer of El Toro facility, due to close by 1999.

Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) introduced his long-awaited bill Wednesday that would give El Toro Marine Corps Air Station to Orange County at no cost to help local officials steer the county out of bankruptcy.

Under the proposed bill, the Marine base effectively would become a huge financial asset for the cash-starved county, which could sell the property in parcels to help overcome a $1.7-billion loss in the county’s investment pool.

The value of the base has been estimated at $1 billion.

Royce’s measure gives the county complete control in deciding how to develop the 4,700-acre base, preventing the Pentagon from parceling out the property to federal agencies.

“One of the difficulties we are encountering at this point in time is the process of the Secretary of Interior and the Bureau of Prisons and other federal agencies all looking at the property and determining ways to obtain large portions of acreage of the property,” Royce said. “This bill would prevent those transfers of property and ensures those decisions would be made at the local level and not at the federal level.”

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons, for example, would like to get 155 acres, including some of the barracks, to house 500 minimum-security and 1,600 low-security prisoners. Minimum security housing does not require a fence, but the low-security area is surrounded by double fencing.

Jeff Ratliff, a site selection specialist for the Bureau of Prisons, said he could not comment on the particulars of the bill because he had not seen it. However, he noted that the agency has been working with Orange County officials hoping to gain their support by explaining the merits of their plan.

The proposal could make the agency’s task of obtaining the site more difficult, Ratliff said, “but it does not mean it’s out of the question. (The local officials) have not told us they reject the proposal, they have just said it’s too premature right now.”

The Interior Department is looking at obtaining 1,100 acres as part of a gnatcatcher preserve on the base. Earlier this year, facing intense local political opposition, the agency was forced to drop plans to turn over about half of the base to the Irvine Co., in exchange for pristine wilderness canyons owned by the company near Cleveland National Forest.

County officials favor the Royce bill because it will allow the county to sell the base and keep the proceeds as it attempts to climb out of bankruptcy.

“I would view this as a plus, for us to have complete control over the base,” said Supervisor Marian Bergeson, whose district includes the El Toro base. “He (Royce) has the support of the Board of Supervisors.”

However, South County city officials complained that Royce failed to consult with them when he drafted the proposed legislation. Most South County officials oppose the measure because it excludes their cities from direct participation in planning for the reuse of the facility.

Lake Forest Mayor Richard T. Dixon contended that Royce was acting on behalf of business interests and developers who want the county to go ahead with plans to build a commercial airport at the El Toro base when the Marines leave by 1999.

“Evidently, he and others have decided for reasons of their own that they are squarely in opposition to whatever South Orange County’s concerns are,” Dixon said. He said proponents of an airport at El Toro have “been able to corral Royce and other local congressman to do their bidding for them.”

Although local communities have engaged in political warfare over whether half of the base should be converted to a commercial airport, Royce said the “intent of the bill is to take no position in the current controversy over the use of the base. It does allow that decision to be made by the residents and taxpayers, and not the bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.”

Royce said the existing base closure law already allows for a closed military base to be turned over to a community in economic distress at no cost.

“Certainly, Orange County qualifies as financially distressed,” Royce said, predicting that the bill would not encounter serious opposition.

Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), whose district includes El Toro, recently circulated a copy of Royce’s bill to mayors and City Council members in his district. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) also has advocated turning the base over to local government officials.