Issa Plan Uses El Toro to Build at Pendleton

A south Orange County congressman Wednesday urged the Navy to consider offering land at the former El Toro Marine base to a private developer in exchange for building much-needed military housing at Camp Pendleton.

Rep. Darrell E. Issa (R-Vista) sent a letter to the secretary of the Navy, citing a section in federal law that permits the secretary of Defense to transfer land to “an entity that constructs military family housing.”

“The housing situation at Camp Pendleton has reached a point of crisis,” Issa said, adding that Pendleton has a waiting list of more than 1,500 families.

Those families wait 13 to 15 months for units, he said.

Last week, Orange County voters overwhelmingly approved Measure W, an initiative that changes El Toro’s zoning from an airport to a park. However, the Navy subsequently announced its intent to put the land up for public sale, even as it considers possible local plans to create a park and other compatible uses on the base.

The Navy has said it plans to decide by April 23.

It is Issa’s second attempt to use El Toro to help ease the housing crunch at the base, in northern San Diego County. Last year, he proposed reopening housing at El Toro for Camp Pendleton families in need of low-cost units.

Navy officials turned him down, citing the rising cost of gasoline and the distance involved, which would have crimped household budgets. Issa said the developments after passage of Measure W prompted him to try again.

“The train had left the station on that idea, but with the Navy’s announcement [on the possible auction of El Toro land], it’s come back,” he said.

Issa, who would like to see at least 1,000 units built at Pendleton, said the Navy hasn’t reaped the expected financial benefits from base closures. Any proceeds from the closure of El Toro should go “where the Marines are,” he said.

“The military has given up important base property and valuable tracts of land but has yet to realize the benefits they should expect as a result,” Issa told Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England in the letter.

Navy officials could not be reached for comment.