As El Toro Deadlines Loom, Now Is the Time For Debate

While the political season unfolds, there are crucial dates that loom up right behind the elections concerning the fate of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

The pro-international airport juggernaut rolls onward, even as the county remains fiercely divided. Last week, it was a telling barometer of general uneasiness over El Toro that Supervisor Marian Bergeson wrapped her announcement that she was leaving office in a warning about this issue. The airport, she said, was damaging the basic faith of her constituents in county government.

That should have served as a reminder of just how important the dates ahead really are. The county’s deadline to submit final reuse plans to the U.S. Department of the Navy is Dec. 30. The weeks ahead are critical as the county makes its most important land use decision in many years, and maybe for many years to come.

Between now and that time, various important meetings are to take place before the supervisors meet sometime in December to make their final choice. While no date has been set for that decision, the Dec. 30 deadline by definition makes all of the discussions of the fall season important in preparation. All interested parties should take advantage of this period to be better informed.

Last week, supervisors got an earful from angry residents at Irvine City Hall. Important dates and meetings (subject to change) are: the Oct. 15 deadline for comments on the draft environmental impact report (EIR); and the meeting of El Toro Citizens Advisory Commission, the county Planning Commission and county Airport Commission on Oct. 16. Other dates are the Citizens Advisory Commission meetings on Oct. 24 and Nov. 20, and the county Airport Commission meeting on Nov. 20.

On Nov. 21, the Planning Commission will meet to issue its recommendation. In December, the supervisors meet to consider their recommendations and make their final choices.

This is the time to be heard.

Three scenarios under consideration by the county include an international passenger-cargo airport, a cargo general aviation airport and a mixed use of the site with no air facility. The draft environmental impact report already has tipped the scale by concluding that a major international airport would be the best way to control noise, traffic and pollution. Understandably, many think the fix is in.

Against this backdrop, the county twice voted on the future of the base, and while the idea of an airport has won the most votes, the issue has left the community sharply divided. Only the boldest airport advocates would venture to say that there is a community consensus at this point.

Indeed, even as there is strong anti-airport sentiment in Irvine, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel and Laguna Hills, experts are divided on the major points of the EIR. The projection that an El Toro airport would draw 38.3 million passengers a year has been questioned by the chairman of the Technology and Policy Program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Southern California Assn. of Governments, which backs an El Toro airport, says there should be far fewer projected passengers than anticipated in the environmental report--by 2020.

Then, there is the question of whether commercial and cargo carriers would even commit to an international field at El Toro. The best answer to date seems to be: If we build it, they will come.

With all these unresolved questions, and with county projections expecting roughly the same economic benefit in the three options, the burden of proof lies squarely on the international airport proponents.

In the meantime, let the debate unfold. Let all who have an interest take part.