Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/irvine-city-council/)
Orange County’s first veterans cemetery will be 125 acres from the beginning, despite earlier uncertainties, after the Irvine City Council voted 3-2 to transfer all of the land, along with the deed, to the California Department of Veterans Affairs following a land swap with a developer.
The Irvine City Council has scheduled a last-minute special meeting at 4 p.m. today to discuss specifics for a land swap with developer FivePoint Holdings that could lead to Orange County’s first veterans cemetery.
The Irvine City Council is rumored to have scheduled a closed session discussion of the veterans cemetery during its Sept. 26 meeting. The discussion reportedly will include using 100 acres of the veterans cemetery land for hotels, homes or other commercial purposes until the land is needed to bury veterans.
Irvine City staff are asking questions about the future of idle portions of a proposed 125-acre veterans’ cemetery – possibly eyeing vacant parcels for commercial development. Veteran leaders are publicly worrying that an expected Tuesday vote to finalize a controversial land swap for the vets cemetery could be in doubt along with key aspects of the deal to bring a state veterans’ cemetery to Irvine.
The Irvine City Council, citing fears that pending state legislation could cost it money, rejected its staff’s top ranked firms and instead awarded one of the lowest-rated companies a contract to help upgrade wireless communications inside the Great Park.
“I need to put my trust in someone to help me resolve that conflict,” said Councilman Jeff Lalloway, who made the motion to hire a consultant and bring the issue back for a vote Sept 12. “When public safety is involved, this is way too important of an issue just to dismiss.”
Developer Greater Far East will have to wait until July 25 to see if the council will overrule the commission because some council members said they didn’t have enough information to decide whether to overturn the Orange County Airport Land Use Commission’s (ALUC) April 20 decision or uphold it.
The national move to online shopping is showing up in the 2017-2018 Irvine city budget where sales tax revenue is dropping.
A majority of the council has expressed concern over Supervisor Shawn Nelson’s proposal to open a 200-person homeless shelter on county land near the entrance to the Great Park.
A split Irvine City Council has begun a land swap that will move the site from a central part of the former El Toro Marine base to strawberry fields near the interchange of the 5 and 405 freeways.