Irvine, FivePoint may swap land for state veterans cemetery
March 16, 2016 Updated 8:56 p.m.
By SARAH de CRESCENZO / STAFF WRITER
IRVINE ? Backers of a proposal to build a state veterans cemetery at the former El Toro air base say a proposed land swap could fast-track the project, which has been beset by complaints from residents who oppose putting a burial ground near homes and a school.
Emile Haddad, chief executive officer of Aliso Viejo-based developer FivePoint, said he will consider trading land the company owns to the south of the Orange County Great Park for the city?s crescent-shaped piece in the northern portion of the park where the cemetery is slated to go.
Vietnam War veteran Bill Cook, who heads the Orange County Veterans Memorial Park group that has been fighting for years to get a military cemetery at the former base, said the committee is in favor of the proposal.
If elected officials in Irvine back it, that would allow the project to move ahead more rapidly than previously expected, he said.
Councilwoman Christina Shea, who has in recent weeks facilitated talks between FivePoint and cemetery backers, has requested the council talk over the offer at its April 12 meeting.
FivePoint?s Great Park Neighborhoods communities, which are being built around the park, have many Asian residents, some of whom follow the principals of feng shui, which discourage situating homes and schools near burial grounds. Hundreds of residents have demanded elected officials in Irvine relocate the cemetery.
The council agreed to set aside land for the cemetery in 2014.
After the site was identified, state legislators allocated $500,000 for a feasibility study, which the California Department of Veterans Affairs has been conducting ahead of a July 1 deadline for a federal grant.
It?s unclear how the proposed swap would affect that effort.
While CalVet is on track to finish the study by May, the land the study considered can?t be developed until the end of 2017 at the earliest, Shea said.
?I could see what a long-term effort this was going to be, to hopefully see anything in the next five, 10 or even 15 years,? she said.
Cook said the 125-acre plot was never an ideal spot for a cemetery.
?We went after that site because it was the only site left to us in the park,? he said. ?It has a strange shape with pointy corners and it has a significant amount of prep work and probably demolition mitigation needed, which will be expensive.?
No such work would be needed at the land to the south of the Great Park because it has only been used for agriculture, Shea said.
?There?s never been any development on it so there?s no issue of clean up like you?ve seen at many areas at the park,? she said.
Cook, who called the proposed trade with the city a ?very generous and gracious offer? on behalf of FivePoint, said the location would also provide visitors with easier access and the cemetery with a higher profile because of its visibility from the 405 and 5 freeways.
?It?s going to say: you?re in Irvine,? he said.
Haddad said he has heard concerns about the proposed cemetery site from area homeowners and salespeople alike.
?It?s not a secret that the cemetery issue has created a little bit of tension,? Haddad said. ?As we are building homes, moving into our future phases and getting closer to the proposed cemetery location, you could see that issue was not going to go away.?
That spurred him to consider trading the parcel south of the Great Park, even though those acres are valuable because of the nearness of the freeway, he said.
Still, ?from my perspective, I think trying to come up with a solution has a lot of value for everyone,? Haddad said.
That includes, of course, FivePoint.
The terms of a swap ? including the exact parcels to be traded ? would be determined only if the council were to support the proposal, he said.
But the land at the north of the park ? although it would need work before it could be developed ? is in a prime location, near scores of homes and next door to the future Portola High.
?The role I play is simply putting this as an option,? Haddad said. ?At the end of the day, this is really between the veterans and the city.?
Any benefits accrued by FivePoint aren?t a concern to the veterans? group backing the cemetery, Cook added.
?I?ve been called a sellout, but I think I?m moving the program forward expeditiously,? he said. ?We want a cemetery that honors, with perpetual rest, the veterans. If Mr. Haddad makes five times as much money by swapping land, good for him. He gave us a good deal.?
I present you with this: