Newport to Test Airport Expansion : City Wants Review of County’s Plan by Superior Judge

In its latest effort to block expansion of John Wayne Airport, the City of Newport Beach announced Tuesday that it will ask a Superior Court judge to force Orange County to submit the expansion plan for court review to determine whether it complies with state environmental laws.

It was not clear whether the city’s action, the latest in a series of complicated legal maneuvers over the airport in recent weeks, would attempt to block the planned expansion of jet service at John Wayne from 41 flights to 55 on April 1.

The motion, to be filed either today or Thursday, comes only days before a federal judge will decide whether the federal courts should have exclusive jurisdiction over the airport expansion case, a ruling that would prevent the city from filing a new lawsuit over the expansion plan in Superior Court.

Restraining Order

U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter Jr. issued a temporary restraining order March 6 preventing the city from filing a new state court lawsuit, but Hatter specifically declined to prevent the city from taking up its old lawsuit against an earlier expansion plan for John Wayne Airport.

As a result of that lawsuit, Superior Court Judge Bruce Sumner ruled in 1982 that the environmental impact report for the earlier expansion plan was inadequate--primarily because it failed to continue alternatives to increased jet service at John Wayne--and the ruling prohibited the county from proceeding with expansion until the environmental review was updated.

The county has appealed Sumner’s ruling but, in the meantime, the Board of Supervisors threw out the old airport master plan and prepared a new one, which it approved in February, along with a new, more exhaustive environmental impact report.

City’s Contention

Newport Beach officials contend that the county should have submitted the new report to the Superior Court before proceeding with adoption of an expansion plan. A law that took effect Jan. 1 requires all cities and counties that have had environmental reviews rejected by the courts to resubmit those reviews before proceeding with development plans, and the city in its suit will simply be asking a judge to enforce that law, said City Atty. Robert Burnham.

However, city officials have not yet decided whether they will ask the judge to simply schedule a hearing to determine whether the county is in contempt of Sumner’s ruling, or whether they will seek an immediate order to halt the April 1 expansion until the contempt issue is decided.

Deputy County Counsel Dan Didier said he had not yet heard of the city’s decision, authorized Monday night by the City Council. But he said he is confident that the new law requiring re-submittal of impact reports to Superior Court judges applies only to court orders that are issued after Jan. 1. Because Sumner’s ruling was issued three years ago, the new law would not apply in this case, Didier said.

Since deciding on the John Wayne Airport case, Sumner has retired and become Orange County Democratic Party chairman. Burnham said he expects Judge Philip E. Schwab Jr., who heard another case filed by the city against John Wayne Airport, to hear the city’s new suit.

Hearing Scheduled

In the meantime, Hatter has scheduled a hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to decide whether his ruling prohibiting Newport Beach and two homeowner groups from filing new suits in Superior Court should be extended.

The hearing stems from a lawsuit filed by the county earlier this month against the city and most of the other parties involved in litigation over the airport in recent years--including several airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration--seeking to have the federal court resolve all outstanding legal issues over the complicated expansion plan.

Newport Beach officials have asked Hatter to dismiss the case, or at least abstain from ruling on the county’s compliance with state environmental laws, since city officials believe they will receive a more favorable hearing on those issues in Superior Court.