A vote center opens April 5 at Irvine City Hall as the special election for an open seat on the City Council enters the final stretch.

HOA board member Dana Cornelius, small business owner Betty Martinez Franco and former councilmember/businessman Anthony Kuo are vying for the District 5 seat, a vacancy created on the council when Larry Agran won the mayor seat in November.

Irvine’s Fifth District includes Woodbridge, University Park and other neighborhoods straddling the 405 Freeway.

Voting ends at 8 p.m. on April 15; ballots were mailed out last month and can be returned by mail, at a ballot drop box or people can cast their ballot in person at a vote center.

The Orange County Register asked the three candidates a series of questions for its voter guide, which you can find online at ocregister.com/irvine.

The guide asks about addressing homeless issues, meeting climate change goals, what makes a good leader and priorities.

It also asks: What is your vision for the city as undeveloped land becomes scarcer but its population continues to grow?

Here are the candidates’ answers to that question:

Cornelius: Preserving the master plan created by the visionaries back in the ’60s and ’70s is one of my top priorities. It’s what attracted me here in 1991 and what keeps me here. We ought to explore ways to convert unused, hard-to-lease office buildings into dwellings for those not yet in the financial place to buy a home. Irvine was designed for the family unit. Each village is equipped with shopping center(s), so restocking the refrigerator is easy and quick. District 5 has the most private parks than any other district. We love to recreate. I shall help protect the retention of these good health-promoting activities.

Martinez Franco: As Irvine continues to grow, we must be proactive in planning for our future. Growth is inevitable, but it must be managed responsibly to preserve our city’s quality of life. Irvine’s master plan has served us well, but it must evolve to meet the demands of a growing population without overburdening our existing infrastructure.

That means developing new housing in strategic locations, such as near shopping centers, public transportation and recreational spaces, so that residents can live, work and enjoy their community without adding unnecessary congestion to our roads. We must also ensure new developments include the schools, parks and services needed to support them so that our classrooms don’t become overcrowded and our neighborhoods remain vibrant.

Responsible growth means avoiding overdevelopment in already dense areas and ensuring that any expansion is paired with the necessary infrastructure — better roads, reliable public transit and well-funded schools.

Kuo: While there are many neighborhoods throughout our community that are already at “build-out,” there are opportunities to bring housing options in areas of our city that don’t impact the traffic, schools and quality of life of existing residents. When new communities get built, more neighbors move in, but the impacts must be mitigated through road improvements, investment in our infrastructure, partnerships with local schools, expansion and improvement to our parks system and more. As new development occurs, we must be smarter about how Irvine executes and lives up to our master plan.

There are those who want to move to Irvine and enjoy a more urban lifestyle. I hope that we can work with property owners to address their needs in areas that don’t change the quality of life for those who chose Irvine for its quieter and more subdued villages.

The vote center at City Hall will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through April 11, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through April 14; another center will open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily starting April 12 at University Park Community Center.

Both will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.  on Election Day, April 15. Ballot drop boxes have also opened. Get more information on locations at ocvote.gov/votecenter.