The Truly Sorry State of El Toro Reuse Planning : County Should Reject Measure S, Then Fix Measure A

Due to a serious vacuum of political leadership, the planning for the future of the El Marine Corps Air Station has gone from being merely a complex land use decision to a living nightmare. Ballot box planning has made it very difficult to discuss or consider with an open mind the future of this base without committing upfront for or against an airport. Whatever the outcome of the March 26 balloting on Measure S, the opposing initiative to El Toro airport Measure A that passed narrowly in November 1994, the county likely will be left with an unsatisfactory initiative in place that probably ought to be undone and corrected.

Fierce partisanship has ruled the day because the county’s political leadership failed to take control of this issue upfront. The county is now caught in a quagmire of unacceptable ballot measures, with the virtual certainty of divisive and extended litigation ahead whatever the outcome. Measure A was flawed because it put the airport on the fast track, seeming to preclude other options prematurely. Measure S would undo Measure A, but it is clear that the burden of ever building an airport--should that actually prove the best long-range choice for the land--would be so onerous under its provisions as to be insurmountable.

The pro-airport forces have made some compelling arguments about needs in air travel in the 21st century, and the logic of taking advantage of an existing airfield. They also are backed by research by a UC Irvine professor that suggests that property values might not be so adversely affected after all.

But studies on the need for a new airport and the wisdom of putting one at El Toro are contradictory and confusing enough as to preclude decisive conclusions at this time about committing to an airport.

This is not, as proponents say, just another case where surrounding communities never want airports, wherever proposed. Much of the planning for South County was done with the expectation that El Toro would never become a commercial airfield, and that ought to count for something. Forcing one in--at least a big one of the kind envisioned by airport proponents--on an unwilling community would be a disaster.

A commercial airfield almost certainly would have to operate under very restrictive conditions if the county is not to be perpetually at war over this issue. Orange County already has one airport not operating at capacity, and there are other proposals being floated if Southern California needs to build more capacity for international flights.

The siting of a new international airport for Southern California is a public policy decision that really ought to be made regionally, not simply by a select group of developers and advocates of growth in Orange County. There is, also, the cost for a county that can’t even pay its bondholders due to bankruptcy, let alone finance airport construction. Proponents have been too casual in suggesting that nobody should be overly concerned about this question because the airport simply will pay for itself.

There is really no attractive choice. If Measure S merely returned the process to square one, we would be for it. However in their zeal for defeating an airport, proponents have included language that effectively removes any middle ground. It would be irresponsible at this stage in the planning to bar an airport as a possible option, which is what the measure effectively would do.

What the county really needs is some breathing room to conduct an appropriate community discussion about the future of the base. That way it can speak with a clearer voice to the federal government about what Orange County would like to see. The best available course of action for now may be to defeat Measure S, but to come up with something soon that replaces the certainty of Measure A. This would allow the county to step back from the “done deal” quality of the previous measure and take a look at all its options, while avoiding the dismissive nature of Measure S.

Sooner or later, the pendulum must stop swinging, and some powerful moderate voices are going to have to step into the void and take responsibility for planning the future of El Toro. It may be more difficult procedurally for county supervisors than for others in putting a more open-ended initiative before voters, but the supervisors can and should use their underemployed powers of suasion to urge the county in this direction. In a word, it is up to them to provide the leadership--to insist that a full range of options will be considered.