Irvine Backs Anaheim Hills' Veterans Cemetery After Council Vote

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Irvine City Council members Tuesday approved a resolution backing a veterans cemetery project in Anaheim Hills, which would represent an about face for a project long thought to be meant for the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

The council voted 4-1 to back the Gypsum Canyon site with Councilman Larry Agran dissenting.
Agran attempted to add an amendment that would indicate the city's commitment to building a veterans memorial park which was part of the cemetery project plan in the city. He argued the city could go forward with the park at least until the site of the future veterans cemetery is sorted out, but his move failed for lack of a second.

Before the meeting, Agran told City News Service the city's voters previously voted to back a veterans cemetery in Irvine.

"This resolution has no binding effect," Agran said. "It is in my view a betrayal of the voters of Irvine."

He opposed the resolution because "it's obviously an effort to abandon entirely the commitment to build the state-funded veterans memorial park (in Irvine)," he said.

Councilman Mike Carroll implored Agran to make it a unanimous vote.

"I would like to ask you Councilman Larry Agran to come around to our side," Carroll said.
Carroll said he found it "laughable" to hear critics of the Gypsum Canyon site recount the long history of battling over the issue.

"I would implore you, I would ask you to please put the past behind you," Carroll said. "Go on faith a little and watch us not be in the pocket of developers as your supporters accuse us of."

Mayor Farrah Khan said backing the Gypsum Canyon site was "the right move given our current dynamic... Orange County is unified like never before... to honor our brave veterans. Let's move forward and let's actually build it now."

Vice Mayor Tammy Kim said, "We weren't here, I wasn't here," when previous plans were approved for a cemetery in Irvine.

"I can only speak to now and the present and today and that is it, and I am doing my best to bring forward and make this a reality," Kim said.

She praised Agran for his advocacy for a veterans cemetery. She assured residents she had no intention of developing the property that was zoned for the cemetery.

"I have no intention of giving (the property) to developers," Kim said. "For people to say otherwise is fear mongering and outright lies. It is absolutely not true."

In July, Anaheim City Council members voted in support of the Gypsum Canyon site, and the Orange County Board of Supervisors has committed $20 million toward the project.

Another major source of support came last week when Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine, announced her backing of the Gypsum Canyon project.

Nick Berardino, president of the Veterans Alliance of Orange County, told City News Service it was "wonderful" to get Porter's backing "as well as other members of the congressional delegation" in Orange County, including Reps. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana and Michelle Steel, R-Huntington Beach.

Porter's "leadership on this issue was extremely valuable because she got beyond the petty politics going on for 10 years and pushed the project forward," Berardino said.

In a statement issued last week, Porter said, "We have a responsibility to do right by our service members and military families. The bare minimum we can do for our veterans, who have made tremendous sacrifices for our country, is to give them a final resting place here in our community. We ought to begin construction on a veterans cemetery as soon as possible, and the Gypsum Canyon site in Anaheim Hills is our most viable option. Let's get this done."

After the council's vote Tuesday the veterans backing the Gypsum site led a "hip, hip hooray" cheer.

Berardino pleaded with the council to back the Anaheim Hills site.

"We're not going to be pushed around anymore. We're not going to be deceived," Berardino said. "We're not going to be put on the back burner. We've waited 10 years. C'mon, stop it. You've been kicking us around for 10 years. You know what it is about. It's politics. It's about one council member who ha a big beef with a developer. Let them solve their problems somewhere else.

"We're tired of being in your political fight. We're not chess pieces. We're veterans. We're veterans who deserve a final resting place."

Agran has backed the so-called Amended and Restated Development site, also known as ARDA, near the Orange County Great Park on the north side at the end of a runway on the old base.
In December 2019, the Orange County Board of Supervisors agreed to convert 2,500 acres donated by The Irvine Co. into a cemetery — with half reserved for veterans — next to Gypsum Canyon Road near state Route 91 and the 271 toll road.

In March 2019, the board voted to reserve space in the planned Anaheim Hills cemetery not only for veterans, but also for their spouses and others who served in the military or governments of U.S. allied forces in the Korean and Vietnam wars.

On July 27, the Board of Supervisors approved spending $20 million to move forward with plans for the Gypsum Canyon project.

Agran has accused the development company FivePoint of blocking the Irvine site because its neighbors have opposed it.

Kim said if the council kept on insisting on developing the cemetery on the ARDA site then it would be tied up in litigation.

"The Great Park residents have made it abundantly clear," Kim said. "They will fight it all the way if it is ARDA. They will fight. We will have a yearslong battle if we insist on putting it in ARDA. This is not about politics or developers. This is about our veterans, so let's please do the right thing and move forward with this tonight."