Airport Report Not Convincing

Silly me! Here I was concerned about noise pollution, air pollution and traffic congestion in Orange County.

Thank goodness for the wonderful and trustworthy people of our county government who commissioned a totally unbiased study that finally reveals how we can solve those problems: All we have to do is build an international airport (“International Airport Called Best for El Toro,” Aug. 9).

Why didn’t I think of that? Of course, 1,200 daily landings and takeoffs will reduce air and noise pollution; of course, 38 million passengers a year will reduce freeway traffic. And of course, it’s going to cost a mere $1.6 billion. (Projections are never too low, are they?) Now, after being supervised into a $1.64-billion bankruptcy, that seems nothing at all to me.

To those people who think that increased taxes will finance this wonderful project, I can only point out that there are not going to be any new taxes, only fees. Wouldn’t you rather pay a fee than a tax? It sure makes me feel a lot better.

To Supervisor Marion Bergeson I must admiringly say: If fence straddling were an Olympic event, you certainly would make the team. Keep up the good work.

KAI WULFF

Laguna Niguel

* According to the Aug. 9 article, the worst noise pattern for the proposed El Toro international airport is directly over an area where thousands of families have just moved for a better life.

Where we reside in Leisure World, we would be closer to the landing and takeoff of these jets. Anyone who thinks that the noise on commercial jets is less than on military jets should visit the area which is in the flight pattern of JFK in New York.

Visit the north side of LAX in Playa del Rey; look at all the empty land the Airport Commission had to buy because of the noise factor.

PHILIP SACKS

Laguna Hills

* Pro-development interests try to equate property rights with civil liberties. Building an airport is a “taking” of neighboring property because of noise, traffic and pollution. But I hear no developers squawking about airport construction, eminent domain proceedings for toll road construction, or urban renewal pork projects.

As mortals, we are mere renters. Only a shallow person would think they had any absolute right to cut down a 300-year-old tree, to carve the natural landscape for short-term profits and leave a development that future generations must contend with.

Had better public control over development been imposed in years past, one might see the ocean while driving down Pacific Coast Highway instead of property clutter.

And, had politicians not handed to the landowners giant tax windfalls, our school tax revenue and cities wouldn’t be cash starved, and the undeveloped land could not have been held in inventory these many years.

It is time for the citizens to assert their control over the development of California.

MELVIN D. THOMAS

Laguna Niguel

* I have always thought that there are better uses for El Toro than an airport.

If we really need an international airport in the future, I think Camp Pendleton would be ideal.

There is plenty of land with no residential areas nearby. The planes go out over water. The freeway is convenient and train service could be made available. It sounds good to me.

PATSY VANNOY

Westminster

* If Orange County’s economy and residents are to participate in the global business opportunities and the jobs that would develop as part of the growth of the international economy, it will require some vision and long-range planning.

There are those who still believe that the existing John Wayne Airport, Orange County’s only commercial airport, with its physical and other constraints, will provide the county’s air transportation required to take advantage of the developing and growing world markets well into the next century. Then what? This is the worst kind of shallow and irresponsible thinking and a major reason why Orange County now finds itself in the present predicament of limited air transportation facilities.

Even now, an Orange County resident or business traveler cannot fly nonstop to the East Coast, despite the short distance in comparison to worldwide air travel distances.

How much longer are Orange County’s air travel customers going to be beholden to LAX for such international air travel? LAX is already concerned about its own air passenger capacities and is looking for solutions!

Consideration should be given to a joint use plan, where John Wayne Airport would handle short flights to areas in the United States and also general aviation purposes. An El Toro Airport would handle flights to Hawaii and all international areas. This would dilute and disperse the surface traffic both coming and going to the airports.

E.P. BENSON

Newport Beach

* The front-page story in the Aug. 9 Times regarding the best use for the soon-to-be-abandoned El Toro Marine Corps Air Station leaves one wondering how gullible the citizens of Orange County must be if they accept the [draft environmental impact] report at face value.

* Traffic: pure speculation! How does the study know that there will be 310,610 average vehicle trips for the alternative plan to an airport when they don’t even know what that plan will consist of? To say that traffic will decrease because of all those cars not having to drive to LAX is laughable. The current traffic gridlock in South County is not caused by cars driving to LAX. Those people are going to and from work!

* Noise: To say that the noise element would “shrink dramatically” is ludicrous. How can you compare 50 takeoffs and departures every hour with the occasional military flight activity? Sure, the military planes can be somewhat noisier, but they seldom fly at night.

* Pollution: How can traffic be reduced when the study states that local traffic would increase 0.8% to 1.2%? Commercial planes may be cleaner-burning but the flights would be increased a hundredfold over current usage.

* Economics: To state that there will be no taxpayers’ money involved is hiding your head in the tarmac. The jobs to be created for any alternative are pure speculation. To say that the airport will cost $1.6 billion to build is pure guesswork. The new Denver airport exceeded budget by well over $1 billion.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors seems to be very favorable to having an international airport at El Toro. So can the county’s Environmental Management Agency and John Wayne Airport produce an unbiased report? People in Newport Beach would love to have all air traffic shifted to El Toro!

JAMES B. GRIDER

Laguna Hills