IRVINE : Private Monorail Gets City Aboard

City planners have given the green light to construction of the first leg of a new mass transit system by unanimously approving a privately financed monorail linking John Wayne Airport to a pair of proposed office towers nearby.

Mary Ann Gaido, chairwoman of the Irvine Planning Commission, likened approval of the conditional use permit Thursday by the commission to the ceremonial first spike in a rail system. Irvine officials hope to eventually build a five-mile monorail system in the city, and ultimately link the system with similar transit projects proposed for Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana. Consultants are studying the plan, Gaido said.

“This is just a baby step,” she said, adding that it was nonetheless significant. “We’re probably one of the first in the nation to start this suburban monorail and promote the opportunity to take rapid transit and not a private automobile.”

The initial leg of the monorail project would be financed entirely by McDonnell Douglas Realty Co., a subsidiary of the aircraft manufacturer. No public funds would be spent on this half-mile leg of the system, Gaido said. Merle Pautsch, a senior vice president of development for Douglas, predicted the monorail will provide convenient access to the airport for travelers as well as ease traffic in the congested airport area.

At Thursday’s commission hearing, Pautsch said the first leg of the monorail would serve as a shuttle carrying travelers between the airport and a pair of 24-story office towers, a Douglas project. But he added that the transit line would not be built unless city officials approve the twin towers.

Thomas Stone, the president of the Transportation Group Inc., the manufacturer of the proposed futuristic trains, said the influx of private cash to finance the system would serve as a model for future projects.

“We’re talking about an unprecedented way to start a transit system,” he said.