Irvine residents submitted 19,140 signatures a few hours before the deadline Thursday, Nov. 9, in an effort to overturn the city’s decision to put Orange County’s first military veterans cemetery near the I-5/I-405 interchange.

City staff began counting the signatures submitted by Irvine resident Edward Pope and his Save the Veterans Cemetery campaign supporters to check if the signatures are in the right place and if they were signed by Irvine residents.

Related Articles Residents launch petition to overturn Irvine council’s decision on veterans cemetery

Irvine approves land swap, moves state’s veterans cemetery project forward

Proposed veterans cemetery faces another hurdle after Irvine seeks to change deal “It’s the most amazing demonstration of civic participation I’ve ever seen,” said Pope, an Army veteran, as he delivered five boxes of petitions to City Hall. “I’m very proud of our volunteer signature gatherers.”

Pope and his supporters want the city to stick to the original plan and donate its land north of the Orange County Great Park to the state for the cemetery.

The City Council in September approved an agreement to give that 125-acre parcel to developer FivePoint in exchange for the same amount of property FivePoint owns near the freeways for the cemetery.

The council also approved a zoning change to allow development of 812,000 square feet of research and development uses at the original cemetery site, which is adjacent to FivePoint’s developing Great Park Neighborhoods. FivePoint, which has the right to develop the freeway property for such uses, requested the zone change as part of the land swap.

Those who oppose the land swap say they worry that if FivePoint develops that land, Irvine residents would suffer from increased traffic and air pollution. They say they are skeptical of a study that showed the land swap won’t create additional traffic.

Supporters of the land swap say the referendum effort could delay and even jeopardize construction of the cemetery, which could begin as early as October 2018.

The city, FivePoint and the Orange County Veterans Memorial Park Foundation hosted a dedication ceremony Oct. 27 at the freeway site, sending a message that the project is moving forward.

“The cemetery was never in danger; they lied about saving the cemetery,” Mayor Don Wagner said. “It’s very disappointing that they are going to put a stop to this.”

Wagner said signature gatherers spread misinformation to the public. Both sites were part of the El Toro Marine base, which many veterans consider “hallowed ground.” But they were never part of the Great Park, city officials said.

He and others say the freeway site, which is near Muirlands Boulevard and Sterling and currently used as strawberry fields, is a better and more visible location for the cemetery and also saves taxpayer money.

After the state passed a bill in 2014 to build a cemetery near the Great Park, some residents expressed concerns about having a cemetery so close to their homes, Portola High School and a future K-8 school.

A report also came out estimating that the first phase of the project — including the demolition of the original site and construction of a portion of the cemetery — would cost $77.4 million because that land is contaminated.

Save the Veterans Cemetery supporters had 30 days from Oct. 10, when the City Council finalized its land swap approval, to submit signatures from at least 10 percent of the city’s registered voters.

When staff finishes checking the submitted petitions, the city will send them to the Orange County Registrar of Voters to verify, within 30 days from Thursday, that there are at least 11,939 signatures.

The city must pay the Registrar of Voters $3.40 per signature for verification. The city also has received 2,960 forms to withdraw signatures, officials said.

If enough petition signatures are verified, the city can decide either to repeal its ordinance to rezone the original cemetery site or let Irvine voters decide.