O.C. Schedules Meeting to Decide on El Toro Airport

The Orange County Board of Supervisors has set a special meeting on Dec. 10 to decide whether to support plans to develop an airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station when the military retires the base by 1999.

At issue is an environmental impact report that analyzes three reuse options for the base:

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

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

* Non-aviation 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. This alternative would leave John Wayne the county’s only airport.

Supervisors are expected to decide what option to further study over the next two years and whether to endorse the environmental impact report that portrays an airport as the best reuse option for the base.

Critics--mostly those who live near the base or under its proposed flight paths--say the 35-volume environmental document is biased in favor of an airport. Supporters disagree, stressing that Orange County voters have twice backed measures to make the base a commercial airport.

The base reuse plan is scheduled to be submitted to the U.S. Department of the Navy, which will decide whether to give the base to the county.