ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Opponents of Toll Road See a Silver Lining in Fiscal Fiasco : Construction: Bond fallout could block building of highway through Laguna Canyon and doom proposal for a new airport in El Toro. But officials say there will be no slowing down of projects.

By MICHAEL GRANBERRY

Dec. 10, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

LAGUNA BEACH —

Lida Lenney looks at the Orange County bond scandal and admits to more than a bit of wishful thinking. For the scandal may accomplish what court hearings or protesters perched in front of bulldozers never could, she said with a smile.

It could stop construction of a toll road through her beloved Laguna Canyon, which falls right in the path of the proposed San Joaquin Transportation Corridor, linking San Juan Capistrano with Newport Beach.

Like county officials who shake their heads and say, “I don’t know,” when asked to assess the impact of the bond crisis, Lenney has no idea what the ultimate effect will be.

But she and other opponents of the proposed toll road--as well as equally fierce foes of a proposed international airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station--admitted Friday to feeling a perverse sense of pleasure over a bizarre political breakthrough that none anticipated, even in their wildest dreams.

Toll road opponents are so heartened by the breakthrough that they plan a “victory rally” in Laguna Canyon today at 10 a.m.

“The road is a bad road, planned for a bad place in a bad way,” Lenney said, adding hopefully: “Anything that can stop it is welcome in my book, and maybe--just maybe--this is the thing.”

Mission Viejo Mayor Susan Withrow had a similar gleam in her eye.

“It’s going to have a huge impact,” Withrow said of the scandal’s impact on El Toro, equating it to a heart-stopping, momentum-changing fumble or interception that gives one team the deciding breakthrough in a football game.

Withrow said opponents have argued “all along that El Toro was a very costly project that the private sector would never be willing to fund. So that means bonds will have to be sold. But our ability to sell bonds in Orange County has been severely hampered, if not destroyed. So it’s all a big question mark.”

While opponents of the Laguna Canyon toll road and the proposed airport were feeling heartened, the spokeswoman for the Transportation Corridor Agencies that are building three county tollways said opponents should cease feeling smug.

“We’re not slowing down or stopping construction on any project,” Lisa Telles said emphatically.

Even though the agency has about $300 million--roughly a third of its funding--tied up in the county’s troubled investment portfolio, Telles said, “our opponents should not be counting on us going bankrupt. It just isn’t going to happen.”

Backers of a new airport at El Toro could not be reached for comment.

In recent weeks, toll road adversaries had been instructed in the tactics of civil disobedience, fearing the necessity of blocking bulldozers with their bodies as a last resort to what many see as the devastation of Laguna Canyon.

They obtained a preliminary injunction in September, 1993, to stop construction of the project. In June, a drama unfolded in the canyon north of El Toro Road when a judge ruled that grading could begin, prompting bulldozers and protesters to race to the site. One protester chained himself to a bulldozer and another was arrested.

The grading was halted the next day by a second court order. But on Dec. 2, a three judge panel from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals gave the toll road the go-ahead.

Telles said she expected that all of the opponents’ appeals will be exhausted early next month, clearing the way for construction through the 4 1/2 miles of Laguna Canyon. Remaining portions of the 15-mile San Joaquin Transportation Corridor are under construction.

But despite Telles’ optimism, former Laguna Beach Mayor Lenney and other toll road opponents believe that the scandal could change the momentum of the court process in a way no other tactic could.

“The people who created this problem are not the ones to solve it,” said Laguna Beach activist Beth Leeds, who echoed Lenney in predicting a turnabout in political fortunes. “I blame the (Orange County) Board of Supervisors, the Transportation Corridor Agencies and the various city managers. And now, they all have a lot of explaining to do. I just don’t see them winning. This was a countywide wake-up call.”

Opponents of the proposed El Toro airport were feeling a similar perverse joy Friday. They said the financial fiasco puts a new spin on the narrowly approved Measure A, which asked Orange County voters if an airport should be built at the Marine Corps station when it closes. The measure passed with a 51% majority on Nov. 8.

“I think if Measure A were being voted on tomorrow, it would definitely be defeated,” said Laguna Niguel Councilwoman Patricia Bates.

She cited an economic study commissioned for Laguna Niguel that received little attention when it came out in October. In light of the scandal, she said, that study will have far more impact. The study predicted “a major financial burden” on county taxpayers, who would have to bear--according to its findings--capital costs of more than $1 billion.

Assuming a 20% federal contribution, the study determined that funding the airport would require a minimum of $800 million in local bonds, resulting in an annual debt service of $60 million a year and a $40-million annual deficit.

“The airport would not produce the revenue to meet the debt service,” Bates said. “So before you jump in, you have to ask yourself: What makes economic sense? What’s viable? What’s going to pay for itself? Because of the scandal, such questions suddenly have more validity.”

Lake Forest Councilwoman Ann Van Haun, who opposes the El Toro airport, said the scandal would have repercussions far beyond both the toll road and Measure A.

“I would bet that all projects are put on hold until the mess is totally sorted out,” Van Haun said. “Who knows what funding will be available for anything? Realistically, you have to look at delays and even cancellations. Funding for all kinds of things is under a cloud.”

But the immediate impact of the scandal is to jar the so-called mandate of Measure A, she said. “In light of the bond problem, you can’t possibly turn your back on almost half the population,” referring to the 49% who voted against Measure A.

Councilwoman Bates said that if the airport proceeds in the wake of the bond scandal, Orange County would inherit a problem not unlike the boondoggle in Denver, where massive cost overruns and technical problems have delayed the opening of a new international airport for more than a year.

“Maybe,” she said, “this is just what we needed.”

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CROP OF ORANGES

Orange County is a familiar name to residents in eight states. Here are a few ways to compare the various Orange Counties, according to the 1990 Census.

POPULATION

California: 2,410,556

Florida: 677,491

New York: 307,647

North Carolina: 93,851

Texas: 80,509

Vermont: 26,149

Virginia: 21,421

Indiana: 18,409

MEDIAN AGE

Virginia: 36.4

Indiana: 34.7