Airport Foes Discuss Smaller Alternative With 2 Supervisors

Acknowledging the determination of South County residents opposed to an international airport at El Toro, two county supervisors met with several mayors and anti-airport activists this week to begin working on a consensus for a much smaller airport.

Supervisors Don Saltarelli and Marian Bergeson met at Leisure World on Wednesday afternoon to discuss alternatives to a plan to develop an airport that could serve more than 38 million passengers a year. The meeting ended without agreement, but those present said it could mark a step toward consensus.

“There are some individuals who are certainly willing to talk about a modified plan, something smaller,” said local activist Doyle Selden, who attended the meeting and who opposes a major international airport at El Toro. “But right now we’re still totally split . . . .”

The county released a base reuse plan last month that envisions an international airport as the best option when the military abandons the 4,700-acre base by 1999. But opponents, many of whom live in South County nearest the base, fear noise, traffic and other negative impacts and threaten litigation over the plans. The county faces a December deadline to present a reuse plan to the Pentagon.