End the Tustin Base Dispute

The city of Tustin and the Santa Ana Unified School District must find a way to resolve their continuing differences over land the district would get at the closed Tustin Marine base to build schools.

This is an ugly controversy that has gone on long enough. Earlier concerns about the exclusion of the district from a share of available base real estate gave way to alarm about potential contamination of land the district might get, and whether an alternative that would have Tustin giving the district money to buy school land elsewhere would provide sufficient funds.

Meanwhile, there is litigation on several fronts: a lawsuit filed by the city to win judicial approval for a homeless housing project, and one filed by the district over Tustin’s failure to release acreage in accordance with a state law signed by the governor. There is also a federal suit filed by the district charging a civil rights violation.

There is an important principle here that must be affirmed. Since land is going to neighboring school districts and for community colleges, an agreeable way must be found to accommodate Santa Ana.

All parties should see the continuing controversy at nearby El Toro, and the Navy Department’s announcement that it will put the larger base up for bid, as signs of urgency after years of conflict over what will become of closed military bases. The federal government, previously inclined to defer to the proposals of local redevelopment authorities, now grows increasingly impatient with local disputes, and it wants to unload surplus properties. It may not be patient indefinitely with the Tustin situation.

Navy officials came to the area recently and supported the city, after previously giving it an ultimatum to reach agreement with various educational districts wanting a piece of the base. The Navy approved giving much of the base to Tustin, and kept some land to sell. But Santa Ana Unified has a state law in its corner requiring Tustin to give it 100 acres before the city can get on with other development, and if the dispute drags on, who knows what will happen? Because the federal government holds all the cards in base closures, both the city and the district would be best advised not to defer resolution any longer. At the very least, this debate can drag on and waste valuable time working its way through the courts.

It used to be that El Toro was the troubled base closing, and Tustin appeared to be on track with a plan. But now Tustin’s dispute with the Santa Ana district has dragged out and become a significant obstacle.What’s happened is that the city and the district have become embroiled in a test of wills. The problem seems to originate at least in part with the city’s revision of its 1994 redevelopment plan, which derailed the allocation of land to five school districts, including Santa Ana Unified. The city was concerned that it would not be able to pay for redevelopment if so much went to Santa Ana.

But the result of that decision seems to have led to the disenfranchisement of that needy district, even as others were getting something from the reuse plan. The new plan gave land to the Tustin and Irvine school districts, as well as to the South Orange County Community College District.

Recently, the Rancho Santiago Community College District came to terms to get 15 acres. There is a hearing scheduled for late May on a lawsuit filed by Santa Ana Unified over the land the Legislature had authorized it to get. Meanwhile, in yet another lawsuit, the district has filed federal litigation charging that Tustin’s plan violates the civil rights of minority students.

The city and district both need to reassess positions that increasingly have hardened. To avoid the endless cycle of litigation, get the parties working together for an agreement all can be proud of.