GARDEN GROVE : City Will Take Part in Monorail Plans

The city will participate in the planning of the proposed Orange County monorail transit system being discussed by several area cities, the City Council has decided.

Acting on the recommendation of the city Planning Commission, the council voted 4 to 1 (with Councilman Robert F. Dinsen dissenting) to join Irvine, Anaheim, Fullerton, Orange, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa in the planning of the proposed system.

The monorail plan began with Irvine’s announcement that it would attempt to build a $125-million demonstration monorail system linking John Wayne Airport and the Irvine Spectrum industrial-commercial project. The other cities then expressed interest in the project, which could receive a boost if California voters approve a statewide rail bond issue in June.

While the alignment of the proposed system is still being discussed, one Garden Grove institution has already made its bid.

“We’ve received a letter from Rev. (Robert H.) Schuller,” City Manager George Tindall told the council. Schuller has expressed a desire that the monorail system, expected to connect to Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center, also travel down Chapman Avenue to Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral, Tindall said.