IRVINE : City Wants to Annex Base to Kill Airport

The city is moving to annex the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in an effort to prevent it from being turned into a commercial airport.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to file an annexation request with the military and perform other legal work.

By having the base within the city limits, Irvine would be in a stronger position to fight off proposals to turn the base into an airport, City Councilman William A. (Art) Bloomer said. Bloomer, elected to the council last year, formerly was commanding general of the El Toro base.

The base, now in county territory, has been eyed in recent years as a handy spot for a new regional airport. Irvine, along with five other Orange County cities, has long protested the idea of commercial jets sharing or taking over the El Toro base.

“Every time I turn around, somebody is targeting that airport,” Irvine Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan said. Recently, the Southern California Assn. of Governments rekindled the idea, she said.

“Annexing the airport would put the issue to bed,” Sheridan said.

Sheridan and other city officials have opposed commercial use of the El Toro base because of concerns over safety, noise and increased traffic.

Annexing the base, a process that could take two or more years, would give the city more say over how the land is used, especially if the military ever closes the El Toro base. The federal government has proposed closing the nearby Tustin Marine base.

Kenneth J. Delino, leader of a six-city effort to find another airport for Orange County, called Irvine’s actions selfish.

If the base becomes a part of Irvine, other governmental agencies will have a tough time ever converting the base into a civilian airport to ease the overcrowding at John Wayne Airport, said Delino, a Newport Beach official who heads the Orange County Cities Airport Authority.

“Irvine is attempting to eliminate this very valuable opportunity for the county,” Delino said.

The airport authority, made up of representatives from Newport Beach, Anaheim, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Stanton and Yorba Linda, has been trying to find a site for a new airport and has pushed for joint commercial and military use of El Toro.

But supporting Irvine’s attempt at taking planning control of the base are San Clemente, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Mission Viejo and Tustin, cities that have formed the Coalition for a Responsible Airport Solution to fight commercial use of the base.