Tustin’s Marine Base Plan Approved by Navy Officials

Navy officials have approved a controversial plan by the city of Tustin to redevelop the closed Marine helicopter base there, a proposal that denies two Santa Ana school districts space for a kindergarten-through-college campus.

The federal approval, called a record of decision, was signed Friday in Washington by Duncan Holaday, Navy deputy assistant secretary for installations and facilities. It will become official when it is posted in the Federal Register next week.

The move is significant both for its swiftness and for the possible impact on ongoing negotiations between Tustin and Santa Ana. Santa Ana school officials have threatened to file state and federal lawsuits alleging racial discrimination if Tustin refuses to carve out space for the unique school, which would be the first of its kind in California.

The Tustin City Council approved the base redevelopment plan last month. The Navy’s approval doesn’t prevent Tustin from changing who gets space on the base, but it does move the city closer to taking control of the land, most of which could be turned over by the end of the year. When that happens, Santa Ana’s options dwindle.

Tustin officials were reluctant to comment in detail on the Navy approval, a 50-page document they haven’t yet seen. But it was based on environmental work conducted in accordance with federal regulations and certified by the city.

“It validates the process we went through,” City Manager William A. Huston said. “We realize we’ve come across as greedy and heartless and we don’t care about kids, but we’ve tried to carve up the pie in an equitable way. We think a reasonable accommodation has been made.”

Santa Ana has undertaken a multi-front war to force Tustin to return to its original education plan for the base, approved in 1994 and 1995 by the U.S. Department of Education.

That plan called for the Santa Ana Unified and Rancho Santiago Community College districts to control the bulk of a 100-acre parcel. In 1996, after federal law changed regarding the disposal of surplus military bases, Tustin changed its mind and earmarked that parcel for the South Orange County Community College District.

The Santa Ana districts want the Navy to withhold the 100-acre “learning village” site along Red Hill Avenue from Tustin and give it instead to the school districts in the original plan. That means 80 acres of the site would go to the two Santa Ana districts, with the remaining 20 acres going to the South County district.

“We don’t think that’s going to happen,” Huston said Wednesday. “We know that’s what they’d like, but it simply hasn’t been done before. The Navy has to defer to the [city’s] reuse plan.”

The city has offered 20 acres on the base to Santa Ana for a combined elementary and middle school and another 10 acres to Rancho Santiago. Santa Ana Unified also would get an undisclosed amount of cash. Tustin officials oppose giving away much more land to Santa Ana, arguing that the city needs the rest of the acreage to sell to developers as a way of paying for roads and utilities.

U.S. Education Officials May Weigh In

Santa Ana school officials haven’t gone for that offer. They argue that the Department of Education will determine which local school districts get property on the base. As late as May, the agency refused a request by Tustin Mayor Tracy Wills Worley to withdraw its original 1994 application on behalf of the Santa Ana districts.

“The only ones saying the Department of Education has no authority is Tustin,” said attorney Martin N. Burton, who represents the two Santa Ana districts. “Everyone else on Earth believes [the department has] the authority to determine the user--not the use [of the land], but the user.”

Department of Education officials in Washington couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.

The swiftness of the Navy’s approval--coming just weeks after the city’s final approval--came as a surprise. The Navy has been considering the city’s plan for five years. Just last summer, Navy officials faulted Tustin for having too much high-end housing and not enough jobs to justify the city’s request for the land free of charge for economic development.

The replacement of a key Navy official might have made the difference. Holaday replaced William Cassidy, the Navy official in charge of base disposal, who had been cool to the city’s plan, Huston said.

Cassidy “had strong points of view,” he said. “We expect things to be smoother.”

In the three weeks since the Tustin council approved its $200-million base redevelopment plan, tensions between the two cities have escalated.

Last Thursday, Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim) introduced a bill that would force Tustin to cede the 100 acres to the Santa Ana districts. An identical bill was on its way to passage last September before time ran out in the legislative session. Tustin officials contend that the bill violates federal law and say that they will challenge it if it passes and is signed by Gov. Gray Davis.

Burton said Wednesday that the school districts will file a lawsuit next week challenging the environmental review of Tustin’s plan. A lawsuit was filed earlier this week on behalf of Tustin resident Juan Garcia, alleging that the city erred when it approved the plan because the city was out of compliance with state planning and zoning laws.

Huston said Tustin still will negotiate even if lawsuits are filed challenging last month’s approval. But if the schools file a racial discrimination lawsuit, the city will end its negotiations, he said.

“No doubt about it, the window is closing,” Huston said.

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Land Dispute

The U.S. Navy on Friday approved the city of Tustin’s reuse plan for Tustin Marine Corps Air Station. The plan gives land that two Santa Ana school districts want for a kindergarten-through-college campus to South Orange County Community College District.

Source: City of Tustin