Resolution No. 5518 291
RESOLUTION NO. 5518
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CYPRESS,
OPPOSING THE ORANGE COUNTY CENTRAL PARK AND NATURE PRESERVE
INITIATIVE
RECITALS
WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of Supervisors, on October 23, 2001,
completed the El Toro reuse planning process by certifying EIR 573; and
WHEREAS, the so-called " Orange County Central Park and Nature Preserve
Initiative", if passed, will change the land use zoning for El Toro and specifically
preclude a commercial aviation reuse of El Toro; and,
WHEREAS, the proponents of the "Orange County Central Park and Nature
Preserve Initiative" propose a "Great Park" to be built on the 4,700 acre El Toro site
instead; and,
WHEREAS, South Orange County already has 78,000 acres of parkland while
North Orange County has only 8,000 acres of parkland; and,
WHEREAS, BBC Research & Consulting (BBC) has prepared a fiscal impact
analysis of the "Great Park"; and,
WHEREAS, the BBC analysis was peer reviewed by the Orange County
Taxpayers Association (OCTax) and former California Auditor General, Kurt Sjoberg;
and,
WHEREAS, OCTax and the former California Auditor General concur in BBC's
findings; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Irvine claims the "Great Park" costs to be approximately
$200 million; and,
WHEREAS, the BBC study conservatively estimated total accumulated capital
cost of creating the "Great Park" to be $2.1 billion in current dollars; and,
WHEREAS, the BBC study concluded that development of the "Great Park"
would require substantial tax increases within the jurisdiction that chooses to develop it;
and,
WHEREAS, the BBC study shows that the interim leasing plan proposed by park
proponents would require more than 60 years of accumulated operating revenue before
any park construction could begin; and,
WHEREAS, the BBC study shows that if park construction were to be debt
funded, the annual debt service would amount to $185 million; and,
WHEREAS, the BBC study shows that the "Great Park" as proposed would
require between $42 million and $60 million annually for gross operating costs and $245
million per year in combined operating costs and debt service; and,
WHEREAS, the BBC study estimates that the impact of the total annual cost
would be new or increased taxes equivalent to a 10% property tax increase if spread
across all Orange County taxpayers; and,
WHEREAS, the citizens of Orange County would lose the opportunity for 68,000
jobs, $7 billion in economic activity and $450 million in annual state and local
government tax revenues from a profitable commercial airport operation at El Toro; and,
WHEREAS, numerous toxic contamination sites at El Toro require substantial
clean-up to meet environmental standards for a park; and,
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WHEREAS, the "City of Irvine's Solvents Study" concluded that close and
continued exposure to soil which is excavated on Base represents a higher than
acceptable health risk; and,
WHEREAS, the "City of Irvine's Solvents Study" concluded that the community
could be exposed to harmful levels of hazardous materials without even knowing it; and,
WHEREAS, the "City of Irvine's Solvent Study" estimates that the cost to
remediate the anticipated soil contamination will add between "#35 million and $350
million" to the overall cleanup cost; and,
WHEREAS, the Final Report "Environmental Risks Associated with the Great
Park Proposal" concludes that the existing paving at the Base acts as a cap for the
contaminated soil, and limits the distribution of contaminated soil and human contact
with the contaminated soil, and the Great Park will remove much of the paving on the
base; and
WHEREAS, the Final Report "Environmental Risks Associated with the Great
Park Proposal" concludes that the soil in the area of the Great Park is contaminated and
presents a health risk, and that this health risk will increase if the excavated areas are
used for activities where people have contact with the contaminated soil, and,
WHEREAS, the Department of Navy Environmental Policy Memorandum 95-02
states that "Communities should be encouraged to develop reuse plans that consider
reusing the land in the same manner (industrial, commercial, residential) as it is being
used at the time of closure. This will result in cost effective and timely clean-ups
ultimately providing opportunity for quicker economic revitalization of the property;" and,
WHEREAS, the feasibility of conveying El Toro to the County of Orange for a
"Great Park" as a Public Benefit Conveyance (PBC) by the Department of the Navy is
highly doubtful.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of
Cypress, California, opposes the "Orange County Central Park and Nature Preserve
Initiative" designed to change the land use zoning for El Toro.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of
Cypress at a regular meeting held on the 14th day of January, 2002.
. Su jt,L)
LYDIA DHI, Mayor
FRANK S. McCOY, Jr., M Pro Tern
TIM KEENAN, Council Member
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MIKE McGILL, Council Meem/� ,.mb-
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'Irr A L. PIERCY, Council Me .-
ATTEST:
°A.41 A . .0111 --- 4- • 11 Er Y CLERK OF THEC ITY OF CYPRESS
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293
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) SS
I, JILL R. INGRAM-GUERTIN, City Clerk of the City of Cypress, DO HEREBY
CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted at a regular meeting of the
said City Council held on the 14th day of January 2002; by the following roll call vote:
AYES: 5 COUNCIL MEMBERS: Keenan, McGill, Piercy, McCoy and Sondhi
NOES: 0 COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
ABSENT: 0 COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
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CITY LERK � HE CITY OF CYPRESS
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