Great
Park Timeline The chronology of developments in the creation of The Great Park in Irvine.
By JEFF ROWE
The Orange County Register
Friday, January 6, 2006
March 17, 1943: Marine Corps Air Station El Toro is commissioned.
June 27, 1993: The federal base closure panel decides to close El Toro by 1999.
July 1993: The Board of Supervisors proposes to oversee El Toro base-closure planning with an advisory council made up of cities and business and community interests. The process is supposed to allow the county to provide a unified front when making its recommendation to the Navy for how the community would like the base developed. Initial reaction is optimistic. It doesn't last as cities and the county argue over the fate of the base.
January 1994: The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority -- ETRPA -- is formed with participation by the County of Orange, and the cities of Irvine and Lake Forest.
June 1994: Measure A, which would transform El Toro into a commercial airport, qualifies for the ballot.
Nov. 1994: Measure A passes with 51 percent of the vote. Neighborhoods near the base and its flight path vote as much as 90 percent against the measure.
Dec. 1994: Orange County declares bankruptcy. Airport opponents cite it as a reason to take El Toro base reuse planning away from the supervisors.
April 1995: A South County-based citizens group that opposed the Measure A airport initiative says it will begin a petition drive for an initiative to overturn the airport plan.
May 1995: ETRPA expands its membership to include south county cities in an effort to block the proposed commercial airport plan.
November 1995: The new El Toro initiative qualifies for the ballot.
March 1996: Voters reject Measure S, thus upholding Measure A.
August 1996: The county's draft environmental impact report and reuse plan is published. It recommends an aiport big enough to accommodate 38 million annual passengers, about four times the annual John Wayne Airport passenger count.
December 1996: County certifies draft environmental impact report.
January 1997: ETRPA files a legal challenge to the Environmental Impact Report
October 1997: Judge Judith McConnell rules in favor of ETRPA and finds that the County of Orange "abused its discretion" by failing to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act when it approved the airport project.
March 1998: South County presents its Millennium Plan for the base, calling for a development including arts and educational institutions, a central park, homes and high-tech businesses.
February 1999: South County cities present what they call the "Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative" designated Measure F. If passed, it would create a requirement for approval by two-thirds of county voters to build or expand an airport, toxic landfill or large jail near homes.
June 1999: County runs a two-day demonstration flying commercial jets in and out of El Toro but the methods and results simply add to the controversy.
July 2, 1999: El Toro officially closes.
August 1999: Measure F supporters set a county record, turning in 192,000 signatures on petitions.
October 1999: Measure F qualifies for March 2000 ballot.
December 1999: County presents an environmental impact report that says a big park at the old base would create more traffic than a commercial airport.
March 7, 2000: County voters vote on Measure F, approving it by a 2-1 margin.
December 1, 2000: Superior Court Judge S. James Otero rules Measure F to be "unconstitutionally vague" and illegal because it usurped the right of the county Board of Supervisors to approve airport projects.
May 2001: The city of Irvine unveils a new citizen-sponsored initiative to overturn 1994's Measure A and replace aviation uses with the Orange County Great Park.
July 18, 2001: Orange County launches a $3 million "Just the Facts" public relations campaign in support of the airport, including public forums, a new Web site and informational mailers to county residents.
November 2001: Measure W is placed on the March ballot.
March 5, 2002: Voters pass Measure W by 58 percent to 42 percent, eliminating the planned airport uses at El Toro.
March 6, 2002: The Department of the Navy announces that, rather than giving the land to the county or a city, it instead will sell the base.
March 18, 2002: El Toro airport advocates file a lawsuit to try to overturn Measure W, saying that state and federal laws give county supervisors the right to decide how to use the base.
April 2002: The City of Irvine meets with the Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C. to discuss the reuse and disposal process for El Toro. The Department of Navy adopts a non-aviation reuse plan for the base.
May 2002: The Department of the Navy, General Services Administration and the City of Irvine announce the Great Park plan and to discuss the Navy's plan to auction the land.
Sept. 18, 2002: Judge Philip H. Hickok upholds Measure W and rules that the people of Orange County, not the Board of Supervisors, have the right to decide how the former air base is developed.
March 2003: The County of Orange and City of Irvine adopt a property tax transfer agreement, necessary for the annexation of the El Toro base.
Nov. 12, 2003: Local Agency Formation Commission votes 5-2 to allow the city of Irvine to annex the 4,700-acre base property, which includes a 1,000-acre parcel that will remain under the jurisdiction of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Dec. 5, 2003: The inaugural Great Park Corporation board meets.
Jan. 14, 2004: Irvine completes the annexation of the old base property
May 27, 2004: The Great Park Corporation hosts the first in a series of symposiums on how the Great Park might be developed.
Feb. 16, 2005: The Navy's auction of El Toro ends, with Miami-based Lennar Corp. buying the base for $649.5 million.
March 14, 2005: The Navy completes its review of Lennar Corp.'s bid and sends an ``award letter,'' setting dates and amounts when money must be paid to complete the purchase of El Toro.
March 29, 2005: Lennar pays the Navy the balance of 10 percent of purchase price - $64.9 million. Lennar already has paid $27 million the amount required as a bid deposit.