Another attempt to create a resting place for veterans in Irvine was rejected by city leaders in a split decision Tuesday night.

Irvine City Council members voted 4-3 to indefinitely table a proposal to study creating a municipal columbarium, meaning it’s not expected to return to the council for further discussion. Councilmembers William Go, Kathleen Treseder and James Mai voted against tabling.

Columbariums — above-ground structures used to store ashes — are typically featured in cemeteries but can also stand alone.

While city leaders have debated building a veterans cemetery at the Great Park for over a decade, the effort fizzled out after local veterans groups got unanimous support from every OC city to move the cemetery to Anaheim’s Gypsum Canyon. 

[Read: How Did Irvine Fail to Build a Veterans Cemetery After Nearly a Decade of Debate?]

Irvine Mayor Larry Agran has continued to call for the cemetery’s construction in the city, saying it belongs on the remains of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro at the park, but his efforts have not picked up much support. 

Councilmember Mai suggested that the city could instead build a columbarium with a preference for veterans and Irvine residents.

“This item has been reintroduced as a compromised solution,” he said at the meeting. “The item is brought forward again to find a balanced, workable option that honors long-standing community desires while addressing resident concerns after years of debate over a full veteran’s cemetery at the Great Park.”

But councilmembers rejected his suggestion.

Mai’s proposal suggested the columbarium could be built somewhere in town but specifically excluded a 125-acre site at the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro at the Great Park known as the ARDA site, causing concern for Mayor Agran.

Agran said if the city is to build a veterans cemetery or columbarium, then it needs to be on that site in order to comply with a 2020 initiative city leaders adopted, even though the city attorney has pointed out that the initiative has no binding power. 

“I guess I would just ask people to pretty much trust the judgment of the people of the city of Irvine that we have found the appropriate place and it’s been there for years,” Agran said during the meeting.

Mai’s proposal came just weeks after he voted to remove any mention of a columbarium at the park in a split city council vote, arguing the neighborhood surrounding that part of the park had changed too much to make any cemetery a possibility.  

[Read: Irvine City Council Splits on Plans for Future of Great Park]

Councilmember Betty Martinez Franco said she was having a hard time making a decision because the item came out so quickly.

“I didn’t have time to go and knock on the doors of my neighbors, my friends, and ask them if they were okay with that,” she said at the meeting, “if they still wanted their parents’ ashes to be buried in a different site than was promised before, and now it’s moving again.”

Councilmember Kathleen Treseder said she was surprised to see a lack of support for the proposal.

“I think the idea of a columbarium was genius,” she said at the meeting. “It’s a way to make sure folks have a great resting place that people can visit and that they have honor, but it doesn’t take up as much space as a veterans cemetery, per se, and would likely cost a lot less. I think that is wonderful.”

[Read: Irvine Leaders to Again Consider a Space for Veterans’ Ashes in Great Park]

Councilmember Melinda Liu said she was voting to table the item to not overburden the city’s budget and resources.

“I’m pretty confused by this memo,” she said. “I don’t mean any disrespect, but we’re talking about honoring veterans, making a preference for veterans, while at the same time, it is not for veterans.”

“I really don’t think we should continue to put staff members on a wild goose chase,” she continued.

Agran said he still believes there will be a veterans memorial park and cemetery at the Great Park, even if the cemetery doesn’t feature in-ground burials like Gypsum Canyon is expected to.

“I have been approached and have relationships with dozens of widows and family members, veterans, relatives, children, who have said to me, ‘Will we ever have a veteran’s memorial park and cemetery out there?’” Agran said. “We’re definitely going to have the memorial park, and I’m going to do everything I can to see to it that we have a cemetery out there.”

Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.