Supervisors Reaffirm Plan to Leave El Toro Reuse Group

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday reaffirmed its decision to pull out of the agency that is planning the development of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, rejecting a last-minute proposal to delay the withdrawal for 60 days.

Supervisor Marian Bergeson had asked for a postponement in the county’s scheduled withdrawal because the Office of Economic Adjustment, the Defense Department group directing the closure of the Marine base, hasn’t recognized the Board of Supervisors as the new planning agency.

The Pentagon still recognizes the crippled El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, comprised of the five supervisors plus three representatives from Irvine and one from Lake Forest, as the official planning agency for the base.

But other supervisors said they were confident that the Pentagon would now recognize the county as El Toro’s planning authority. Airport supporters said it is now time to move forward.

The issue produced a large turnout at the late-night meeting, where proponents and opponents of the airport debated whether the county should break off from the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority.

Lake Forest Councilwoman Ann Van Haun, whose constituents live next to the planning site, had unsuccessfully lobbied for a more cautious approach: “We need to sit down and work through this thing,” she told the board before it voted 3 to 2 to reaffirm its decision.

Pentagon officials had said they would decide by last Dec. 31 whether they would recognize the Board of Supervisors as the new planning authority but have not done so yet.

Bergeson has said she wants the board to pressure the military “to provide its official position in writing as soon as possible.”

In a report to the board, Bergeson said Pentagon officials had warned that further delays in the planning process could force the military to proceed with its own plan for the development of El Toro.

Most of the base is in an unincorporated area, but Pentagon officials have insisted that Irvine and Lake Forest be included in the planning process.

Orange County voters passed Measure A in November, which calls for the county to build a commercial airport at the base.