Planners Say El Toro Report Is Best It Can Be

Orange County planners on Thursday defended a draft environmental report on a proposed airport and other reuses for El Toro Marine Corps Air Station against a flood of complaints that too many crucial details were left out of the document.

Until the Orange County Board of Supervisors decides a basic question--whether to pursue an airport at El Toro--the county can’t produce a report providing the kinds of details the public is craving, such as traffic projections at peak travel hours for specific intersections, or precise figures on how many people will hear airport noise, planners said.

“One of the criticisms we’ve been getting is that we haven’t gotten down to that level of detail,” county attorney Michael S. Gatzke told a meeting of the El Toro Citizens Advisory Commission. “It’s not a feasible thing to do without the guidance of the board.”

Gatzke, responding to a question from a commission member, said the kind of analysis sought by critics costs up to $4 million for each of the three proposed projects. The cost would quickly rise, he said.

In December, supervisors will vote on a reuse plan to submit to the federal government, which will decide whether to give the 4,700-acre military base to the county when it is retired by mid-1999.

The board’s options include a commercial airport serving up to 38.3 million annual passengers, a cargo-general aviation airport and a non-airport option that would centers around residential, business, educational and recreational uses.

Gatzke stressed that supervisors are not choosing a final option for the base, but rather are choosing a general concept. The general concept can be reversed if further planning shows what was chosen does not work, Gatzke said.

Airport opponents and others question whether the drawn out planning process for the base allows the county to sidestep--at least for now--their critical concerns about traffic, pollution and airport safety.

Even after Gatzke’s comments to the commission Thursday, resident Alan Beek of Newport Beach complained that the report should still give residents a more accurate portrayal of how noisy an airport will be. And a South Conty mortgage broker told the commission that uncertainty about the base’s future is driving away potential home buyers.

In other developments related to El Toro:

* The county has received about 1,500 public comments on the El Toro report. County officials hope to respond to all concerns in the final report due in November.

* While the bulk of the comments oppose an airport at El Toro, several prominent business interests back an airport, including Disneyland, the Orange County Business Council, and Federal Express, which is interested in using an El Toro airport for its cargo.

Tensions between city leaders opposed to an El Toro airport and the supervisors--a majority of whom are seen as supporting it--is on the rise.

In a letter to Irvine Mayor Mike Ward, Supervisor Roger R. Stanton criticized Ward for being so publicly strident in his opposition to an El Toro airport and his criticism of the supervisors. Stanton urged Ward, who is seeking reelection, to begin working toward a solution.

The letter was copied to the city council and city managers in the South County cities of Irvine, Dana Point, Lake Forest, Laguna Hills and Mission Viejo. Stanton told Ward “most folks believe that not every day should be a campaign day. I appeal to you Mike to communicate with this Board in your public oral and written comments as cordially as you always have in private.”

If the county rejects an airport at El Toro, Stanton wrote, “it will be in spite of, not because of, the nature of your communication thus far.”

Ward could not be reached for comment Thursday.