County Adds Public Hearing on El Toro Airport Plan

Orange County officials, responding to criticism that they are rushing a proposal to turn El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into an international commercial airport, have scheduled a public hearing next week to discuss the plan with area residents.

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Irvine Senior Center, 20 Lake Road, in Irvine.

“We want to give people another opportunity to ask questions and have their questions answered,” said Kathleen Campini Chambers, a spokeswoman for the El Toro project.

The county last month released a mammoth environmental impact report on the proposed commercial airport, which would be built when the military departs the 4,700-acre base, probably by 1999.

Airport foes and others, including Supervisor Marian Bergeson, whose district includes the base, complained that the 45-day comment period and five public meetings did not give the public enough time to digest and respond to the complex document.

As a result, the board-appointed Citizens Advisory Commission extended the comment period until Oct. 15 and scheduled an additional public hearing.

The public can also comment at two previously scheduled meetings: this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Dana Point Community Center, 34052 Del Obispo St., and Sept. 26 at 4 p.m. at the next scheduled meeting of the Citizens Advisory Commission, at the Orange County Hall of Administration, 10 Civic Center Drive, in Santa Ana.

Residents who cannot attend the meetings can send any correspondence to Paul Lanning at the county Environmental Management Agency, P.O. Box 4048, Santa Ana, 92702-4048.