Tustin Air Base Vote Postponed

Despite years of debate, the Tustin City Council on Monday delayed its decision on how best to use a closed helicopter base where a sprawling community of tract homes, business parks and a golf course is proposed.

Several dozen Tustin and Santa Ana residents who came for what was to have been final public comment on the issue left without being heard.

The council postponed until Jan. 16 a vote on environmental documents for the base’s redevelopment. The Navy, which owns the 1,700-acre base, must approve the city’s plan before handing over the property.

School leaders in Santa Ana, who want a slice of the base for future campuses, say they will try to block the plan.

Ed Connor, attorney for Santa Ana Unified School District and Rancho Santiago Community College district, said of the Tustin council’s inaction Monday, “I think they were concerned about looking in the mirror right before Christmas and seeing Scrooge.”

Berklee Maughan, longtime Tustin activist and former council candidate, said, “I’m happy they’ve continued this because it will give the community more time to digest it.”

Under the plan, the base would be broken up, taking 700 acres of farmland and possibly one of two vintage blimp hangers with it.

But Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim) said he is prepared to reintroduce a bill in Sacramento this week that would force the city to give up 100 acres of the base for Santa Ana schools. The unusual kindergarten-through-college campus would be run jointly by Santa Ana Unified and Rancho Santiago.

The bill, co-sponsored by Correa and state Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana), passed easily in the Assembly and had support from a majority in the Senate. However, it died on the Senate floor in the closing minutes of the Aug. 31 session after Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) blocked a final vote at Tustin’s request.

Correa said he intended to reintroduce the bill Dec. 4, when new legislators were sworn in. But Tustin officials asked for a two-week delay so they could reach a compromise with Santa Ana schools.

Both districts met in closed session last week but announced no new action related to the base dispute.

“Tustin is our neighbor, and we’ve tried to negotiate in good faith,” Correa said Monday before the council session. “However, I’m beginning to see a pattern of them saying, ‘Wait, let’s negotiate, let’s talk,’ and then nothing appears to happen.”

In September, Gov. Gray Davis vetoed a Johnson bill that would have made it easier for city officials to begin redeveloping the base.

Calling Johnson’s bill premature, the governor said it was the responsibility of “interested local agencies to work together toward an agreement on the redevelopment plan.”