Panels Recommend Airport at El Toro

Despite complaints from residents that the process was rigged, two commissions overseeing the reuse of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station on Wednesday took the first steps toward turning the base into what could become one of the nation’s largest airports.

The Orange County Airport Commission and the El Toro Citizens Advisory Commission overwhelmingly recommended that the Orange County Board of Supervisors follow the will of county voters and continue pursing plans to develop an airport when the military retires the base in 1999.

“I don’t feel we can turn off the planning, the analysis at this point,” said Airport Commissioner Michael L. Lapin. “I’d like to take it to the next level. . . . There is a value to looking at [an airport] for El Toro.”

There were a few notable dissenters. Two members of the El Toro Citizens Advisory Commission who represented residents who live near the base or under proposed flight paths questioned whether an airport has a place at El Toro, while a third from Irvine declined to take a stand.

“A lot of people feel the process is moving too quickly,” said Commissioner Tom Wall, representing the Irvine Chamber of Commerce.

Commissioner Jack Rippy of Lake Forest added, “There seems to be too few to speak for this region,” echoing concerns that South County residents are underrepresented in the base reuse planning.

The outcome was no surprise to airport opponents, who have long believed that planning for the base’s future was designed to ensure an airport is built at El Toro.

“This was expected; it would have been a surprise if they did anything else,” said Laguna Niguel resident Charles Leibold, who unsuccessfully urged the panels to oppose an airport. “We’ve got lives here, human beings at stake.”

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Opponents were enraged when Chairman Robert L. Cashman said he was under the impression that John Wayne might be closed if an El Toro Airport was built. In fact, the two airport scenarios envision John Wayne either being expanded or reduced to serving only general aviation needs.

“It’s so clear he did not read the report,” said Trabuco Canyon resident Edward Gogin. “I know that. Why doesn’t he know that?”

Wednesday’s vote was more symbolic than substantive, but still deals a devastating blow to airport opponents by putting the county firmly on track to build an airport at El Toro.

The commission votes are not binding; the supervisors’ approval next month would only set off a new round of studies on safety, flight paths, airport noise, an airport’s impact on home values and a host of other issues.

George Argyros, a member of the El Toro Citizens group, and group chairman Gary Proctor also urged future studies to consider curbs on flights at an El Toro airport, in much the same way passenger, cargo and flight caps are used at John Wayne Airport to lessen noise in surrounding communities.

It was a point that commissioners took pains to repeat throughout the meetings. Commissioners also stressed that if future studies highlight a “fatal flaw” with an airport at El Toro, the county can scrap its plans and start anew.

“The civilian airport is far and away the best choice,” said Argyros, a developer who bankrolled campaign efforts to support the airport plan.

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But opponents say there will be little chance of turning back.

“They’re just trying to jam this thing through, no matter what,” Tom Feeley of Irvine said after speaking before the Airport Commission meeting, attended by just over 50 people. More than 60 people attended the El Toro Citizens Advisory Commission meeting.

A total of more than a dozen people spoke in favor of the airport at the meetings.

“El Toro is necessary” to meet future aviation needs, said Bruce Bauer of Santa Ana. “It’s an economic must.”

Former commercial pilot Elmer Cote of Newport Beach told the commission that fears about takeoffs were unfounded. He said that in 1969 when John Wayne Airport closed temporarily for runway work, he flew commercial aircraft on the flight paths now being questioned.

The fate of the retiring military base is the most controversial land use issuing facing Orange County. It has pitted North County residents, who have carried two countywide elections in favor of an airport, against South County residents, who are opposed to living with an airport in their midst.

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Supporters see an airport as a priceless opportunity to boost the economy and meet growing demands for passenger and cargo service. Opponents fear an airport will bring noise, traffic, pollution and safety hazards that will devalue their homes.

In recent months, the fight has focused on a draft Environmental Impact Report produced by the county staff at John Wayne Airport and the Environmental Management Agency along with hired consultants.

The report analyzed three reuse options:

* An international passenger-cargo airport capable of serving up to 38.3 million annual passengers, surrounded by compatible uses. It could result in an average of 50 flights an hour, around the clock. This would keep John Wayne open just for general aviation needs.

* A cargo airport capable of moving 960,000 tons of cargo a year and serving local general aviation needs, surrounded by compatible uses. It would also result in an average of 50 flights an hour, around the clock. This proposal would expand John Wayne Airport for commercial passenger travel.

* Nonaviation, mixed uses, including a visitor-oriented attraction and institutional or educational facility, such as a college campus, surrounded by residential and recreational areas and land for light industrial businesses and research and development.

The report portrays an airport as the best reuse for the base. But opponents who have spent months scrutinizing the lengthy report’s findings called it a “fraudulent” document Wednesday, saying it misleads the public and fails to seriously look at other alternatives for the base.

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Adding to the controversy is a recent position taken by the Air Line Pilots Assn. that says the county’s proposed takeoff route to the east is unsafe. The Federal Aviation Administration, meanwhile, said it saw no problems with reusing the base as a civilian airport.

The Orange County Planning Commission meets at 1:30 p.m. today at the Hall of Administration in Santa Ana to decide whether to endorse the environmental impact report. The Board of Supervisors will meet in December (no date has been set) to decide the issue.

The county then hopes to meet a Dec. 30 deadline to submit a base reuse plan to the federal government, which has final say on whether to convey the surplus land to the county.

* AIRPORT DEBATE

Economic and safety concerns are raised at public forum. B7