Bill on Hold in Land Fight at Former Base

An Assembly bill that would have forced Tustin to provide land at the closed Marine helicopter base for Santa Ana schools will not be introduced this week as planned, the bill’s author said Thursday.

Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim) said some progress has been made in negotiations to resolve Tustin’s dispute with the Santa Ana Unified and Rancho Santiago Community College districts. The city asked for more time, he said, so he agreed to hold off on his bill.

“Tustin continues to inch forward,” Correa said. “In the spirit of the holidays, I’m giving all of the parties more time to negotiate.”

If there is no deal soon to end the land dispute, Correa said, he will strengthen his bill and be ready to introduce it next month. The city is set to approve its redevelopment plan for the base--without space for Santa Ana schools--on Jan. 16. The vote was to have been taken this week but was postponed for a month.

Correa’s bill would compel the city to turn over 100 acres on the Tustin base to the two school districts for a kindergarten-through-college campus.

The bill passed in the Assembly during the previous legislative session and had majority support in the state Senate. However, Assemblyman Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) kept the bill from reaching a vote in the Senate before the legislative session ended Aug. 31.