Author: Larry Agran

In Irvine’s 48 years as a planned City, some land-use decisions and projects have been so profoundly beneficial that they’ve earned the title “legacy projects.” As a former Mayor and Councilmember, I’ve been fortunate to play a role in advancing three of these citizen-driven projects.

As most Irvine residents know, construction of a beautiful Veterans Memorial Park and Cemetery should have begun two years ago, in 2017 — on the City-owned, 125-acre “ARDA” site in the Great Park. After two years of delays, there’s a new strategy to finally get it built!

Even as Assembly Bill 368 — to again designate and fund construction of a Veterans Cemetery at the original 125-acre “ARDA” site in the Great Park — is moving through the State Legislature, Irvine Mayor Christina Shea is trying to steer the Council toward yet another unplanned, unstudied, and unapproved “alternative” site.

In pursuing their delay-and-defeat strategy, including their latest scheme, Shea and Fox are testing voters’ patience yet again.

2019. That’s the year when construction of Phase 1 of the planned-and-approved Veterans Cemetery in the Great Park was supposed to be completed and become operational by Veterans Day, November 11, 2019.