Anti-Airport Initiative Qualified : El Toro: Enough signatures are gathered to place on March ballot a measure blocking the base reuse project.

An Orange County taxpayers group opposed to building a commercial airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station has gathered enough signatures to qualify a ballot initiative aimed at blocking the project, the county registrar of voters said Monday.

Just over 76,000 signatures were needed to place a measure on the March, 1996, ballot calling for the repeal of Measure A, a voter-approved initiative that mandates the development of a civilian airport when the military vacates the El Toro base in 1999.

The Taxpayers for Responsible Planning turned in 106,488 petition signatures, said Bill Kogerman, spokesman for the South County-based group.

“We’re over by a comfortable margin,” Kogerman said.

Registrar of Voters Rosalyn Lever worked over the weekend to meet a Nov. 8 deadline to count the signatures collected by the group. Lever said she could not verify the total number of names submitted, saying only that at least 100 more signatures than necessary were confirmed.

“We’re still counting,” she said.

The initiative also calls for an independent study of development options for the 4,700-acre base that will be abandoned under the national military base closure effort.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors will be asked Nov. 14 to authorize putting the issue on the March 26 ballot.

A slim majority of Orange County voters endorsed Measure A in November, 1994, and critics hope to turn that margin around. Voters can expect a no-holds-barred campaign in upcoming months.

Airport backers are expected to launch a well-financed campaign portraying the development as an economic boon that will bring businesses and jobs to the bankrupt county.

“This will give us another opportunity to educate the voters,” said Dave Ellis, a consultant and spokesman for the pro-airport campaign, the Committee for 21,000 New Jobs.

Many critics, meanwhile, are downplaying the noise and traffic issues that were previously the cornerstone of their opposition, instead presenting their side as a planning issue.

They say the county never considered alternatives for the site and instead is carrying out the will of powerful developers who hope to profit from an airport.

“I’m opposed to the airport because nothing has been fairly studied about how it relates to the base,” Lake Forest Mayor Richard T. Dixon said Monday. “As for jobs, universities produce jobs. What’s to say that an airport is the best thing?”

Airport supporters say the signatures simply reflect the undisputed fact that some residents are opposed to an airport at the Marine base. This time around, airport backers will be able to use the county’s unprecedented bankruptcy in their favor, they add.

“If we’re going to solve the economic needs of our county, we need the airport,” said prominent developer Buck Johns.

The fate of the El Toro base has been embroiled in controversy since the Marines announced they would be leaving. The county and local cities continue to debate who should lead the planning process, and what form it should take.

Some officials from cities surrounding the base contend that they should have a greater say, or a say at least equal to that of the county.

Airport supporters, and some opponents too, say the airport is a county issue and should not be stalled by parochial views.

“This shouldn’t be viewed as North County versus South County,” Ellis said.