The Irvine City Council voted to reject the mayor's proposal for a Great Park veterans cemetery, but Larry Agran has vowed to continue his fight. We must remain focused on supporting the Gypsum Canyon initiative and Great Park development.
✅ We support a Veterans Memorial. That's not in question.
⚠️ But adding an active cemetery near schools, parks, and family homes? That's a major concern for our entire community.
👉 Just want to take action?
You don't need to read the whole thing — all the steps to stop the cemetery are at the top of this document. The rest is background information if you want to understand how we got here.
Support the proposed resolution for a library in Great Park.
📌 This is our most effective action right now!
Email Subject: Support for a Library in Great Park
Message to Copy:
Dear Honorable Council Members and Great Park Board,
I am writing as an Irvine resident to express my strong support for the proposed resolution to designate the planned Great Park library as a Central Library in the northern sector as indicated in the current Great Park Framework Plan and to include it in Phase 1 of the Framework Plan construction.
I respectfully urge you to support the Central Library proposal at the Northern Sector and include it in Phase 1 construction.
Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to your support at the June 24, 2025 Great Park Board Meeting.
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"We fully support honoring our veterans with dignity. The question isn't whether to create a memorial, but where to place it. Gypsum Canyon offers the space and setting our veterans deserve."
— Joint statement from community organizations
The ARDA site at Great Park was offered to the State to build a veterans cemetery. Sounds simple — but things got complicated fast.
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.
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.
Even though Gypsum Canyon is progressing, Mayor Agran attempted to bring construction back to the Great Park by putting it before the City Council.
The Irvine City Council voted to reject Mayor Agran's proposal for a Great Park veterans cemetery. However, Agran vowed to continue advocating for a cemetery at the ARDA site despite the council vote.
Let's build a Memorial Park that honors veterans — without placing a cemetery in the heart of where we live.
📱 Share this website with friends and neighbors to continue supporting the Gypsum Canyon initiative!
This is our neighborhood. Let's protect it together.