Board Decides Reagans Can Be Buried at Site

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday that former President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, can be buried at his presidential library near Simi Valley.

The supervisors unanimously approved the Reagans’ burial request despite claims by an environmental group that the two-plot cemetery will result in more visitors to the library and more pollution in the county’s air.

Neil A. Moyer, president of the Environmental Coalition of Ventura County, complained that the supervisors approved the burial site without ordering an environmental impact report as required by law. Moyer said his group is considering appealing the supervisors’ action in Superior Court.

Meanwhile, Reagan aides expressed delight that the supervisors ratified the county Planning Commission’s approval of the burial site and, along with it, nighttime functions on library grounds. The cemetery’s construction was stopped earlier this month when environmentalists asked the Board of Supervisors to review the Planning Commission’s approval.

“It was a costly delay, but we are confident that we will be able to have the burial site completed by opening day,” said Charles H. Jelloian, director of operations for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.

The foundation is putting finishing touches on the $60-million library complex in the hills above Simi Valley that includes a museum highlighting aspects of Reagan’s life and a 55-million-page collection of presidential documents generated during Reagan’s years in the White House.

The library is scheduled to open Nov. 4. At that time, the public will be able to tour the museum and possibly review some of the documents. Reagan has asked the National Archives, which will assume control of the library on opening day, to make about 1.5 million pages of documents available to the public in November.

Reagan and the federal government will keep most of the records secret for a decade or more because they include confidential advice to the President or could jeopardize national security.

Earlier this year, the Reagans requested permission to be buried next to the library, following the lead of other former Presidents who have been interred on the grounds of their libraries. The request came three years after the county had approved the library’s construction without requiring an environmental impact report.

Before the county issued a construction permit for the library, members of the Environmental Coalition met with Reagan aides to express concern about an endangered species of plant on the site, increases in traffic-related pollution, the encroachment on open space and other environmental issues.

Moyer said the foundation informally agreed to environmentalists’ wishes and now has reneged on that. For instance, the foundation asked to extend the library’s hours so it could hold social events and lectures, he said. The county has agreed to allow up to 60 nighttime functions a year.

Moyer argued that an environmental impact study on how more traffic might increase air pollution is required since the library plans to extend its operating hours into the evening. “I don’t object to the Reagans entertaining at the library, I just think they should not get special treatment,” he said.

Mike O’Donnell, construction director at the library, said the Reagan foundation has hired a traffic-management consultant to devise a plan for reducing the number of vehicles coming to the library.

“The foundation is extremely concerned about the environment, and we will continue to meet all of the requirements,” O’Donnell said.

The Reagan foundation expects about 350,000 visitors a year at the library off Madera Road between Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks. Foundation officials and county planners say they do not believe that the burial site or nighttime functions will significantly increase the number of visitors or air pollution in the area.

The supervisors approved the burial site without debate. “I have no problem supporting this,” said Supervisor Vicky Howard of Simi Valley, who made the motion to honor the Reagans’ request.