Bitter Fight Still Ahead Over Future Use of Base : Planning: Warring O.C. factions could hurt ultimate outcome by prolonging debate over control of land.

Having just endured a 3 1/2-month, losing battle to save the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, Orange County civic and political leaders are now bracing for yet another bruising fight--this time among themselves over the future of the base.

Long before Saturday’s vote by the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission to shutter the 4,700-acre base, the new battle lines had been clearly drawn.

Arrayed on opposing sides of the brewing fight are county residents, divided roughly north against south, who favor or oppose conversion of the base into a potentially noisier commercial airport; county and city officials have already squared off over questions of control and how revenue possibly totaling hundreds of millions of dollars should be divided.

Officials, both public and private, say this is a sure-fire formula for failure--or, at least, a lengthy and hurtful delay. Experience with base closings elsewhere has shown that the communities that avoid divisive battles are the ones that more quickly mitigate the negative economic side effects of the closings.

Orange County need look only at neighboring San Bernardino County for an example of what can happen when disagreements drag on.

Unresolved competition between two would-be airport authorities for control of George Air Force Base, which was closed in 1992, has prompted Air Force officials to delay transferring control of the facility until the rival city and county authorities decide among themselves which entity will handle the conversion.

Meanwhile, 33 miles away at Norton Air Force Base, planning is underway for an international airport that could capture businesses initially interested in George.

In Orange County, Newport Beach is seeking to enlist other cities--and the county--into joining an airport authority, possibly a reconstituted version of the existing Orange County Cities Airport Authority, which would seek to develop a commercial and air cargo facility at El Toro, rivaling John Wayne Airport.

The existing six-city authority, at the urging of Newport Beach, has already decided to apply for federal grants to plan the base’s conversion. The other five cities belonging to the authority are Anaheim, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Stanton and Yorba Linda.

But in South Orange County, a strong citizens’ coalition, including a large contingent from the Leisure World retirement community in Laguna Hills, plans to fight the airport because of fears that noise and traffic congestion would prove damaging to their quality of life.

“This will divide the county. It will hurt Orange County tremendously,” said Doyle Selden, a Leisure World resident who fears a protracted fight. Newport Beach’s plan “is absolutely repugnant to us. We cannot possibly believe that they could take over an airport and run it from a distance and tell us how to live in our area.”

But having won the first round--the recommended closure of El Toro--Newport Beach Mayor Clarence J. Turner is extending an olive branch.

“We need to put a lot of this stuff behind us,” Turner said. “The economy is in dire straits and this is an opportunity for us to show that we can help ourselves.”

In addition to the airport proposal, Newport Beach has prepared a preliminary development plan that counts on revenue from other projects, such as a jail or prison, retail stores, a medical clinic, golf course and a train maintenance depot for the Orange County Transportation Authority.

Newport Beach Deputy City Manager Kenneth J. Delino said the coalition of cities would “back off” if the county aggressively moves forward with airport development plans. “Our actions are simply filling the void left by the county,” he added.

Orange County officials, meanwhile, continue to be annoyed by Newport Beach’s decision to aggressively lobby for the closure of El Toro and are quietly attempting to undermine that city’s efforts to control the land.

Ken Bruner, an aide to Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, said the board would not be “blackmailed” into agreeing to an airport. “The county is not going to move right now to put an airport at El Toro,” Bruner said.

County officials are also convinced that they have the only legitimate claim to controlling the base’s future because it lies in an unincorporated area of the county. They have lined up consultants and sought advice from federal officials on how to plan the base’s future use.

But the county has been hamstrung by its own political pledge to South County residents not to move on base conversion planning until the El Toro decision was final. Even though the commission voted Saturday, the entire approval process could still take several months. President Clinton has until July 15 to accept or reject the commission’s recommendations, and if he accepts, Congress has 45 working days to vote them up or down, with no changes permitted.

The Board of Supervisors also promised South County residents that they would consider various development options--not just an airport--at the El Toro site.

One group the county can expect to hear from is Concerned Citizens for Peace, a 750-member South County group that was opposed to the Marine Base but also will fight an airport. Instead, the group wants neighborhood centers and job-creating enterprises, such as child-care centers, transit facilities and low-income housing.

With Newport Beach anxious to get a jump on the county, the board Tuesday will discuss how quickly to act--whether to proceed with public hearings on how to re-use the base, or ask President Clinton to reconsider the El Toro decision, or do both simultaneously.

Whatever happens, it will not be for several years.

While the closure decision could become final in a few weeks, it will be four to six years before the Marines are completely moved off the base.

And even before local governments or developers can decide how to use the land, other federal agencies have the first option for the land, for uses ranging from affordable housing to a regional post office.