Tustin Gets Base; Uses Still Disputed

Navy officials agreed late Thursday to give most of the closed Tustin helicopter base to the city of Tustin, but tense negotiations continue with the Santa Ana Unified School District, which wants part of the land.

The Navy will transfer the property even if Tustin cannot make a deal with Santa Ana Unified, said Tustin City Manager William A. Huston. But he said he hopes a pact would be ready to bring Monday to trustees of Santa Ana Unified and Rancho Santiago Community College District. The college district reached a tentative agreement this week for part of the land.

Settling the dispute “is in everyone’s best interests,” Huston said Friday before rejoining the negotiations. “We’re prepared to do whatever it takes.”

Even though the Navy will give the land to Tustin, any attempt to use it would be blocked by state law unless the city shares with the schools. Under a law that took effect Jan. 1, Tustin cannot zone or develop the 1,600-acre base unless the city gives 100 acres to the Santa Ana districts or agrees to a different settlement.

The law also complicates the Navy’s plan to sell 240 acres of the base for new homes and use the money to help pay for base closures slated for 2005.

Tustin officials filed suit last week saying the state statute interferes with the federal base-disposal process. But pursuing the suit could tie up base development for years and would be costly to the city, the districts and the military, Huston said.

Still, Tustin officials on Friday applauded the agreement with the Navy as the first step in transforming the former Tustin Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station, which closed in July 1999, into homes, a golf course, schools, parks and businesses.

“This signing was a huge milestone that we’ve been waiting a long time for,” Councilwoman Tracy Wills Worley said. “At the end of the day, we’ve all had to compromise.”

Rancho Santiago college district officials agreed Thursday to accept Tustin’s offer of 15 acres within a 100-acre parcel called the Learning Village that Tustin intended to give to the South Orange County Community College District.

An additional 22 acres in the same area have been offered to Santa Ana Unified, plus $38 million from Tustin to the district for purchase of land elsewhere to build a high school. The district has had trouble finding suitable sites in Santa Ana, which has little remaining undeveloped land.

Possible contamination of those 22 acres offered by Tustin has been the sticking point for months between Santa Ana Unified officials and Tustin.

Santa Ana Unified officials want assurances that the designated 22 acres can pass rigorous tests required by the state Department of Toxic Substances Control for potential school sites.

“We just want to make sure that the deal makes sense for the students and families of Santa Ana,” Supt. Al Mijares said Friday.

“We’ve been at this for four days, and I think we’ve made a lot of progress. But we haven’t resolved it.”

Mijares said he will meet with Tustin officials Monday to continue hammering out details.

Tustin and the Santa Ana school districts have been at odds for eight years over the districts’ request for property on the base.

*

Times staff writer Jessica Garrison contributed to this report.