Board Set to Disband El Toro Reuse Agency : Measure A: Three of five supervisors vow to follow voters’ wishes for airport. Opponents suggest court action.

A majority of the Board of Supervisors said Thursday they are ready to disband the county’s planning agency studying the conversion of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station and will follow the apparent voter mandate to earmark 2,000 acres there for a commercial airport.

Military officials, however, warned this week in letters to the supervisors that such an action would cost “valuable time” and could jeopardize federal funding given to the county for the conversion process.

“We would like to continue with the positive gains we’ve made with ETRPA (El Toro Reuse Planning Authority),” Marine Col. Jim Ritchie stated in the letter received Thursday. “Any delays to the progress already made would disrupt our timetable for closure and impact the community redevelopment efforts.”

The county planning authority was created by the supervisors in March to consider a range of options for the base, including siting an airport there, with a final decision coming in 1995.

Any move to disband the county planning authority is also likely to be opposed by officials from Lake Forest and Irvine, cities that belong to the authority and object to the development of a commercial airport.

“They’re going to have a tough time doing that,” said Barry J. Hammond, a councilman from Irvine, where part of the base is located. “I think there are some real legal issues they have to address. I can guarantee you we would oppose that.”

Despite the potential legal and funding problems, Supervisors Harriett M. Wieder, William G. Steiner and Roger R. Stanton said Thursday they are prepared to carry out the wishes of Orange County voters, who narrowly approved Measure A, an initiative requiring that the county designate land at the base for a commercial airport.

The measure was favored by 51.1% of voters, a margin of 15,103 votes. With 48,000 absentee ballots still to be counted, however, it is conceivable that the outcome could change.

But the preliminary results were enough for a majority on the five-member board.

“As far as I’m concerned the people have voted,” Steiner said. “Withdrawing from ETRPA is consistent with the will of the public. Until the court tells us not to do it, we should move ahead and implement Measure A.”

“We have no choice,” Wieder said.

Stanton agreed that the board “needs to get the ball rolling” and disband the county planning authority.

Supervisors Thomas F. Riley and Gaddi H. Vasquez could not be reached for comment Thursday. The entire board is expected to discuss Measure A and make policy decisions at its meeting Tuesday.

Also on Thursday, County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider said his staff is preparing a list of options for the board to consider regarding Measure A. According to a draft of those options, the board could disband the county planning authority; ignore the referendum; join the county’s current planning authority with a new 13-member airport committee, which is supposed to be formed under Measure A; or create a hybrid group of both committees to study the reuse issue.

Currently, the county’s planning agency is made up of nine members: the five supervisors, three representatives from Irvine and one from Lake Forest. The agency is the only one recognized by the Pentagon to submit a reuse plan to the federal government for converting the Marine base to civilian use. It recently received $730,000 in federal funds.

Col. Ritchie indicated that additional funding could be withheld if there is not “continued recognition” of the reuse authority as the lead planning authority.

Schneider, however, said he did not think that disbanding the county authority would “jeopardize” the county’s ability to receive grants from the federal government. To withdraw from and disband the county authority, 30-days notice must be given to all members of the agency, county officials said.

Supervisors Stanton, Steiner and Wieder said that notice should be given as soon as possible. They also said the county should begin forming the 13-member advisory commission called for in the referendum. That committee is to work with federal, state and local agencies and the air-cargo industry in developing a commercial airport at El Toro.

Stanton and Steiner said the selection of that committee should include all county viewpoints.

Regardless of how the board acts on the issue, the future of the military remains uncertain.

There continues to be deep divisions throughout the county over what sort of development would be best for the base, which is scheduled to close by 1999. For the most part, North County residents favor an airport and South County residents are against it. Lake Forest officials, are so adamantly opposed to an airport that they have threatened to challenge the initiative in court.

Furthermore, Pentagon officials, who will make the ultimate decision on how to convert the base, say they are not bound by any county recommendation or county measure.