El Toro Land Swap Plan Makes Sense : It Is a Measure of Clarity in a Fractious Political Milieu

When talk of a proposed land swap between the Irvine Co. and the federal government surfaced last year, the idea seemed intriguing enough. At that time, the proposal was one of the rare suggestions floating around that did not seem to get under somebody’s skin.

Measure A, which narrowly designated El Toro as the site of a commercial airport, was brewing at that time. The initiative has clarified at least some things for some people, but there is still a great deal of uncertainty over the future of the base. Last week, the land swap came to fruition with an announcement that the Interior Department intended to complete an exchange with the Irvine Co. within 18 months, giving the giant landowner 800 acres on the base in return for land in the wilderness area near the Cleveland National Forest.

The idea seemed good at the time and better now that we know more about it. The developer already has built the Irvine Spectrum as a commercial, research and light industrial park. A sizable part of the land that the developer will get would go for further light commercial use in the vicinity of the Spectrum.

From the county’s perspective, if somebody is going to develop land adjacent to El Toro, there is no better evidence of what is likely to come than to look at what is already there. Irvine Co. intentions for the rest of the area also seem clearer now; the company says it has no interest in owning or developing the commercial airport if that is what happens to the 2,000 acres set aside.

The federal benefit extends to the rest of us through the preservation of open space to the north in a region that increasingly has been subject to exurban sprawl. In reviewing the land it will get, the department has taken into account sensitive species and habitat, biodiversity, linkage to other open space, and the potential to consolidate habitat through parcels of land.

A similar principle has been at work in the state’s good effort to set aside lands and habitat in exchange for development rights. The department, by the way, also has a separate request to acquire 1,084 acres at El Toro, now called the Battery and Firing Range, which is said to contain significant coastal sage scrub habitat and potential for linkage with other open space.

Meanwhile, the other big part of the equation, the question of the development of an airport, remains almost as confusing as ever. Measure A has passed, but the Board of Supervisors has withdrawn from the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, leaving Irvine and Lake Forest as the group’s only members, and now both the supervisors and the old authority claim to be the planning agency for the facility.

The cities, understandably, aren’t accepting the offer to join the new citizens commission to advise the board on the development. Since they would prefer that other options be explored, having them on a committee planning the airport is like inviting dissenting homeowners to a neighborhood meeting when the association already has decided the fate of a particular plot of land. There is the likelihood of litigation over Measure A, and questions remain about whether the Defense Department will recognize planning efforts unless all parties are on board.

At least the land swap proposal, which awaits approval by the Navy and the Defense Department, offers a measure of clarity in a fractious political environment.

The planning for El Toro’s future has started in a piecemeal fashion, with major questions yet to be resolved. But the county and neighboring cities could do a lot worse than what has been proposed.