1) Support Vice Mayor Mai's Agenda Item
Email the City Council to support the evaluation of potential columbarium locations with proper community engagement.
Recipients: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Email Subject: Support for Vice Mayor Mai's Agenda Item: Municipal Columbarium Study
Message to Copy:
Dear Mayor and City Council Members,
I am writing to express my strong support for Vice Mayor Mai's agenda item to evaluate potential locations for establishing a municipal columbarium within the City of Irvine. This initiative represents a significant step toward developing a final resting place for the veterans who served at El Toro, and it offers a historic opportunity for our City to honor their service.
Residents of the Great Park remain steadfast in our support of the veteran community. As evidence of this commitment, we have already agreed to fund up to $80 million for the Veterans Memorial Park and Gardens through special taxes borne exclusively by residents. We view this current proposal as a reasonable and constructive compromise.
Any decision on a location must be rooted in broad community consensus. I urge the City to conduct a robust engagement process-utilizing town halls and surveys-to ensure the site honors and is supported by our veterans and the residential communities closest to it.
Thank you for your consideration on this important matter.
Email the Council Copy Email TextEmail Subject: Building Consensus: Support for Municipal Columbarium Study
Message to Copy:
Dear Mayor and City Council,
I am writing to ask for your support of Vice Mayor Mai's agenda item regarding the municipal columbarium study. It is time for Irvine to find a solution that unites our city rather than divides it.
Great Park residents have proven our dedication to honoring veterans by funding the $80 million Veterans Memorial Park and Gardens through our special taxes. We want to see a final resting place established, but it must be in a location that has broad community support.
Please vote to move this study forward and ensure that the process includes genuine public outreach. Professional surveys and town halls are essential to finding a site that respects both our veterans and the existing neighborhoods. Let's find a solution we can all be proud of.
Email the Council Copy Email TextEmail Subject: In Support of a Data-Driven Columbarium Search
Message to Copy:
Honorable Council Members,
I urge you to vote YES on Vice Mayor Mai's proposal to evaluate locations for a municipal columbarium. This is the correct path forward to honor our El Toro veterans while respecting the residents of Irvine.
The Great Park community is already contributing heavily to honoring our veterans, specifically through the $80 million in special resident taxes allocated for the Veterans Memorial Park and Gardens. We are not opposed to honoring veterans; we are opposed to planning decisions made without data.
This study provides an opportunity to utilize real data—through surveys and transparent engagement—to identify a location that works for everyone. Please support this item and ensure that community feedback is the primary driver of the final location selection.
Email the Council Copy Email TextEmail Subject: A Reasonable Compromise for the Columbarium
Message to Copy:
Dear City Council Members,
I am writing to express support for Vice Mayor Mai's agenda item regarding the municipal columbarium study. This proposal represents a fair and reasonable compromise that moves the City forward.
Residents of the Great Park have already committed $80 million in taxes to build the Veterans Memorial Park and Gardens. We are proud of that contribution. However, finding the right location for a columbarium requires sensitivity to the families who live nearby.
I support this study because it opens the door to finding a location that is appropriate and supported by the community. I urge you to vote yes, and to ensure that the subsequent study includes rigorous public engagement, including town halls, to ensure the voices of residents are heard.
Email the Council Copy Email TextWhat is Really Happening
For more than a decade, Great Park residents have overwhelmingly opposed placing a veterans cemetery inside our community. We have fought this over and over, and every time the council rejects it, Larry Agran comes back with another angle, another tactic, another "version" of the same idea.
Now, after being defeated again on the full cemetery proposal, he has suddenly stood down — only to pivot and introduce a columbarium in the same location.
A columbarium is a burial facility. It is not a park, not a memorial, not a harmless structure. It is the first step to force a cemetery into Great Park.
🗓️ FAST FACTS — THE TIMELINE
🗓️ 2014 – Original Cemetery Plan Begins
The ARDA site at Great Park was offered to the State to build a veterans cemetery. Sounds simple — but things got complicated fast.
⚠️ 2018 – Land Swap Rejected
A plan was proposed to move the cemetery to the Strawberry Fields — a site near the I-5 and Bake Parkway, by the El Toro Y freeway interchange. The goal was to shift the cemetery away from neighborhoods.
However, this required a land swap, and Measure B was put on the ballot. 63% of Irvine voters said NO. Their opposition was primarily aimed at the controversial land swap with a private developer — not a vote in favor of keeping the cemetery at the Great Park.
There was widespread concern that developers would profit while residents would bear the consequences.
There was also widespread confusion during the campaign, and many residents later reported feeling misled about what their vote actually meant.
🔒 2020 – Cemetery Zoning Locked In
Councilmember Larry Agran co-authored a "citizen-led initiative" — a formal California process where residents can propose a new law by collecting voter signatures. This initiative aimed to rezone the ARDA site exclusively for a veterans cemetery.
Nearly 20,000 residents signed — but signing a petition is not a vote. Many people signed to allow the issue to be discussed or placed on a ballot.
However, instead of putting it to voters, Agran and the City Council adopted the ordinance directly.
The Council voted 4–1 to approve the zoning change without public vote. Then-Mayor Christina Shea pushed for it to go to the November ballot.
This decision locked in cemetery-only zoning at the ARDA site — without direct voter input.
🚀 2022–2024 – Gypsum Canyon Gains Momentum
- State law AB 1595 passed to support Gypsum Canyon in Anaheim Hills
- 34 cities in Orange County (including Irvine) passed resolutions supporting it
- $20M and land allocated by the Orange County Board of Supervisors
✅ May 27, 2025 – City Council Rejects Cemetery Plan
The Irvine City Council voted to reject Mayor Agran's proposal for a Great Park veterans cemetery instead of supporting Gypsum Canyon. However, Agran vowed to continue advocating for a cemetery at the ARDA site despite the council vote.
✅ December 9, 2025 – Council Rejects Agran's Latest Cemetery Proposal
Mayor Agran once again tried to push burial uses into our neighborhood — this time as a columbarium buried in a 300+ page proposal. The Council voted 4-3 on Dec 9th in favor of proceeding with building a Great Park library minus the columbarium, thanks to your efforts!