Public Needs a Say on Airport, but Its Price Tag May Be a Shock

* The initiative to convert the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport will be on the November ballot for all of the Orange County voters to decide (“113,000 Signatures Back El Toro Airport Vote,” June 2). Opponents to this initiative declare that this issue should not be decided by the public but rather by county planning commissions.

However, I believe that the public should have a voice in this matter because this is a critical issue that will affect all of us in Orange County for years. We must look ahead 20 or more years, when the Irvine Ranch and other nearby undeveloped areas are fully developed with homes, apartments, condos, motels, hotels, recreation facilities, and all kinds of businesses. There will be a huge demand for airport services. John Wayne Airport will not be able to meet these demands. We will need another local airport. Where will it be? Before El Toro became available, no one could find suitable locations.

The El Toro base is now available with a ready-made airfield. As a taxpayer, I have already paid to have this airfield built at El Toro. I do not want my tax money wasted. El Toro can be modified for use as a commercial airport at a cost that is far less than what a new airport would cost. We cannot leave this decision to planning committees that are stacked with representatives from nearby cities who have their own particular interests in mind.

Since a commercial airport at El Toro would use less than one half of the base area, many other developments can also be proposed, which the planning committees can work on and resolve. We need the democratic process to resolve this critical airport matter. I am very pleased that I can vote on this important issue.

ROBERT P. DAWSON

Newport Beach

* The article, “Voters to Have Say on El Toro” (June 22), sheds some light on the important issue of El Toro’s future.

As a mere Orange County resident with no perceptible ax to grind, I’d like to see El Toro become a commercial airport. There’s long been talk of a need for an international airport. Maybe here’s an answer.

One question is “What will be the relationship of El Toro to John Wayne?” Will John Wayne stay the same, decrease to only commuter and small-plane status (after all the money spent on roads, posh terminals and parking structures) or allowed to grow, too?

I’d guess developers and South County homeowners would like to see El Toro become houses, each for their own reasons. Homeowners around John Wayne Airport would like to see El Toro prosper and reduce some of John Wayne’s traffic.

What does Orange County need in addition to a larger airport? It needs a jail site, low-cost housing (modified barracks?), and recreational/park space. Here’s an opportunity to get all three in one fell swoop. I feel the voters would be shortsighted to side with a few homeowners or developers and cheat themselves out of a great opportunity.

JACK AND VIRGINIA THEIBERT

Orange

* In November voters will be asked to approve or disapprove an initiative to develop an all-day/all-night commercial airport as a reuse of the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro.

We have been told that a “yes” vote means thousands of new jobs for Orange County. What we haven’t been told is that this initiative socks us with a price tag of a $1-billion bond issue!

So think twice, taxpayers. Approval will not only damage our environment and quality of life, but it will heavily impact our pocketbooks.

There are better ways!

ANITA C. SINGER

Laguna Hills

* A recent issue of your paper contained three letters opposing both the El Toro Marine base as a commercial airport and the countywide petition to vote on this issue.

It is not surprising that all three were from residents of Irvine and Laguna Hills. They are, of course, biased and state some erroneous facts.

The base was there as an airport long before most of the residents now opposing a commercial airport moved into its vicinity. They should not now complain. Incidentally, commercial aircraft are much quieter than most military planes.

An airport would be a financial boon for the whole county, the third largest in population in California and expected to increase by almost another 400,000 by 2003.

IRVIN C. CHAPMAN

Costa Mesa