Irvine Acts to Block Airport Pact : City Fears El Toro Could Be Targeted for Civilian Flights

The City of Irvine moved Friday to block an agreement between Newport Beach and the county limiting expansion of John Wayne Airport, arguing that the pact will lead to “intense pressure” to convert the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station to a civilian airport.

In a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Irvine asked the court to reject the agreement, arguing that any binding limits on passenger traffic at John Wayne are bound to place new demands for development of an additional civilian airport along Irvine’s eastern boundaries at El Toro.

“They’ve basically blocked out any future expansion for the next 20 years at John Wayne Airport, which means there’s a passenger demand out there that has to be dealt with, and everything points to El Toro,” said attorney John McDermott, representing Irvine.

The city is challenging both the passenger limits at John Wayne Airport contained in the agreement --8.4 million a year over the next 20 years--and the agreement’s provision for scrapping earlier county resolutions which opposed civilian use of El Toro. County officials project that by the year 2005, there will be demand within the county for service for 22 million air passengers a year.

Not New Position

“The city’s opposition to civilian use of El Toro has always been the same as those stated by the county in their two previous resolutions, and our position hasn’t changed,” Mayor David Baker said in a prepared statement. “All of the city’s land-use plans are based on the assumption that El Toro remains a military jet airfield. We cannot support the resolution of one issue at the edge of our city, only to resurrect an equally critical problem on the other side of the city.”

Board of Supervisors’ Chairman Thomas F. Riley, who helped negotiate the agreement with Newport Beach over the past several months, said Friday he had hoped that Irvine’s concerns could be dealt with out of court and was “disappointed” that the city had filed suit without notifying him.

Riley said he and many other board members remain opposed to civilian use of El Toro.

“Even if we went out and decided we wanted to do it, I think the federal government, with the present mission of that base, would be very much concerned,” Riley added, noting the Defense Department’s historic opposition to any talk of allowing civilian traffic at the base.

Riley, whose district includes both Newport Beach and Irvine, learned of Irvine’s motion only minutes before leaving to attend a swearing-in ceremony for Irvine Councilman David Sills to a Superior Court judgeship.

Newport Beach Mayor Philip Maurer said the City Council still plans to consider in closed session on Monday night several proposals from Irvine for settling differences over the airport.

“I am praying that this settlement goes through, and that there won’t be any roadblocks that get in front of it, but I guess everybody has the right to do what they want, and you know, Newport Beach is rather used to lawsuits,” Maurer said.

In its motion, the City of Irvine is seeking to join what has become a legal tangle concerning the airport. Seeking to have all possible legal issues aired, Orange County officials earlier this year opened the suit in federal court, bringing in every airline serving the airport, every airline seeking to serve the airport, Newport Beach, two homeowners’ groups, an aircraft manufacturer and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Some Issues Untouched

The proposed agreement would settle many of the issues pending among Newport Beach, its homeowners’ groups and the FAA --essentially, those that involve citizens’ opposition to a large-scale expansion of the facility--but it would leave unresolved the claims of airlines not granted permission to use the airport and disputes over what kind of aircraft can be flown as a result of regulations aimed at phasing in quieter jets.

Irvine’s motion raises a number of complex legal issues, many of which county officials had hoped to avoid in reaching agreement with Newport Beach. For instance, Irvine, if it is granted permission to intervene in the case, will argue that the Environmental Impact Report prepared for the John Wayne Airport expansion is inadequate if the agreement suddenly paves the way for a new airport at El Toro because the subsequent environmental effects near El Toro have not been studied.

The city is also raising a fundamental legal issue which is critical to both the FAA--which has not yet signed off on the Newport Beach agreement--and the airlines: whether regulation of air traffic at John Wayne is really a federal matter and therefore beyond the authority of the Board of Supervisors.

Concern Over Action

McDermott said Irvine is concerned that Newport Beach and the county are seeking court sanction for the proposed John Wayne agreement over the next 20 years.

If it were simply an informal agreement--and did not become the subject of a court order--the county would be free to amend it later if it became clear that additional expansion of John Wayne was necessary, McDermott said.

But if the court sanctions the agreement, as the county is preparing to request, the only viable response to demands for additional jet service would be a civilian airport at El Toro, McDermott said. He said the city might be willing to accept the agreement if officials from Newport Beach and the county agreed not to make it binding over the next 20 years.

“The two cities are in discussion with each other. Hopefully, there will be some middle ground reached. We are certainly hopeful that will occur,” McDermott said.

An Oct. 21 hearing has been scheduled before U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter Jr. to determine whether Irvine will be allowed to join the case.