South Vows to Rise Again in the Battle Over El Toro Base

The Laguna Niguel man standing at the podium was spitting out his words. Why, he demanded at the crowded public hearing, should north Orange County residents have any say in an airport that would be built in his backyard?

“North Orange County residents are not local residents,” William M. Sternchak said, drawing cheers from the crowd as Orange County officials silently looked on. “On what basis do you make the rationale that everyone in Orange County should have a decision-making role on El Toro?”

The hearing wasn’t even about the proposal to build a commercial airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, but it illustrates the deep division along geographical lines between South County and North County when it comes to the fate of the military base.

Orange County polls going back more than a decade have shown sharp differences between the south--a wealthier area where concerns often center on quality of life issues like transportation and the environment--and the north and central areas, which frequently grapple with crime, and drug and alcohol abuse issues.

But perhaps the most telling sign of the split is a bitter lawsuit pitting such North County cities as Fullerton and Anaheim against their southern neighbors, including Laguna Niguel and Irvine.

Both sides are anxiously awaiting a decision by San Diego Superior Court Judge Charles R. Hayes, who agreed to hear the case after it was removed from Orange County courts because of potential conflict-of-interest issues among local judges. A ruling is expected by Friday.

The South County cities filed the lawsuit in June 1995 seeking to repeal Measure A, a ballot initiative narrowly passed by voters in November 1994. The measure amended the county’s General Plan to endorse construction of a commercial airport when the military departs the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in 1999.

But critics contend Measure A is invalid because it failed to notify voters of how a commercial airport would affect noise, traffic and other environmental concerns.

“This whole issue has drawn a line down the middle of the county,” said San Diego County-based attorney Michael S. Gatzke, who represents Orange County in the lawsuit. “But it would be hard to find an issue like an airport that wouldn’t be divisive.”

There have been other issues, such as proposed toll roads, that highlight the battles between north and south. But UC Irvine professor Mark Baldassare, who has conducted polls on such topics, says nothing has sparked controversy like the airport.

“It’s really off the map,” Baldassare said. “It’s the most geographically divisive issue Orange County has ever faced.”

The reason, observers say, is because while the county’s two halves may not agree on certain issues, rarely is one side in a position to impose its will on the other.

However, on the countywide El Toro issue, residents in the northern part of the county carry more than twice as many votes as the southern end.

“People who are very, very far away in this county do have a direct say on what’s happening to these other communities, and that’s a rarity,” Baldassare said. “There’s really no way to get by that.”

It’s spawned talk of a secession like the start of the Civil War in 1861, with South County officials suggesting the area can make it on its own. And few bother with niceties in this debate: At the same public meeting where Sternchak had his say, a Newport Beach woman was shouted down and told to “Go home!” when she voiced support for a commercial airport.

And now, the emotion-charged rhetoric will, at least for a moment, make way for the judge’s ruling on the suit.

One side argues Measure A should be junked because there was inadequate environmental study.

“That’s a fundamental planning issue, and they overlooked it,” said San Francisco attorney Richard C. Jacobs, who represents South County cities including Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano.

Jacobs estimates there will be more than 500,000 flights each year out of a potential commercial airport at El Toro, more than 50,000 people a day making trips to the facility, and air cargo planes flying around the clock.

“Measure A decreed an airport without considerations for the surrounding areas,” Jacobs said. “If planning for the future is to mean anything, you can’t just say all of a sudden Orange County will have an airport.”

The county went to court to argue the validity of Measure A, armed with a recent state Supreme Court decision upholding the rights of Napa County voters to restrict development on their countryside.

In this case, that ruling is being used to bolster the pro-development view.

“Certainly, the voters in California have used the initiative process frequently to make broad land use decisions in their communities, policies that they expect their elected leaders to live by,” Gatzke said.

Attorney Clement Shute, representing six North County cities, uses words such as “stupid” and “fallacious” to describe the suit. He said Measure A puts into place a planning process that would scrutinize the very environmental issues that South County cities are worried about.

“It’s a politically motivated maneuver to knock down Measure A,” said Shute, representing Newport Beach, Anaheim, Stanton, Orange, Garden Grove, Villa Park and two committees backing an airport at El Toro.

If Measure A is repealed by the lawsuit, the county would be forced to take the planning process back to the drawing board, Jacobs said. That would include an intensive environmental impact report and review process.

County officials contend their existing planning process will include doing an environmental impact report--even though it is not required--along with studies on non-aviation uses for the base, options that allow them to incorporate any legal decision into their plans.

“We don’t see Measure A as having made a final decision about an airport,” Gatzke said.

The debate hardly ends there.

Airport foes have put a rival measure--Measure S--on the March 26 countywide ballot that would effectively kill airport plans.

So the war of words continues.

Former Newport Beach Mayor Clarence J. Turner, an outspoken proponent of an El Toro airport, said many airport opponents are South County NIMBYs: folks whose refrain is ‘Not in my backyard.’ He downplays noise and traffic impacts, and argues for the economic benefits that an airport would bring.

“If you live in Lake Forest or Laguna Niguel, you might take the selfish view that you don’t care about your fellow man,” said Turner, adding that a new network of roads and technology that results in quieter aircraft should quell most concerns about a new airport. “But this is a regional issue. We’re all in this together.”

South County cities, meanwhile, portray themselves as having an airport foisted upon them. They complain that they have been denied a decision-making role in the planning process, and say the county authority overseeing the base reuse plan is stacked in favor of pro-airport forces.

“They’re trying to force an airport down our throats,” said Bill Kogerman, head of the anti-airport group Taxpayers for Responsible Planning. “And we don’t have a say in it.”

Gatzke, the county’s attorney, said he’s not taking sides--he’s just trying to uphold the voters’ decision on Measure A and keep from getting caught in the middle.

“The rhetoric on both sides is heated,” Gatzke said. “But then it’s unrealistic to even talk about an airport without [expecting] deep divisions like this.”