Big Isn’t Always Best

The Board of Supervisors sought to soften its decision Wednesday on the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station by modifying the problematic big-airport proposal so as to leave wiggle room. But essentially, even though a major airport is backed by only a small, powerful group, the future is very open to that outcome.

It’s clear now that only when the notion of a big airport is off the table can there be any serious planning for more suitable and community-friendly alternatives. After Wednesday, that’s not likely to happen any time soon. Almost every other word uttered by the board in its final comments on the proposal was “litigation.” Keeping an eye turned toward potential threats of litigation is a lousy way to plan a county, but that is essentially what the supervisors voted for, and they appeared to recognize it.

This is not the end of the road for discouraged legions of homeowners imagining the reduced value of their investments, but neither is it merely “a step” as advertised by those who argued for the decision. Those who doubt need only look at what a lost cause it was for tollway opponents in the early 1990s when presented with a fait accompli by a 1970s-era Board of Supervisors.

The planning process ahead does afford time for review and discourse. However, it is also true that some of the same boards that were so quick to assent will look again later. Don’t expect different outcomes from them next time.

Good community planning takes place at the local level, but ironically the best hope for the moment lies with distant bureaucrats in Washington, where the Pentagon will conduct its own environmental impact report. The local planning process in recent weeks has been eye-opening even for those accustomed to the cozy workings of county government. The El Toro approval has been the consummate exhibition of the county apparatchiks’ dexterity at reaching predetermined conclusions. Meanwhile, the entire region still awaits the fulfillment of an obvious need, a really broad study of other possible sites, including other military bases, for new international airport capacity.

Somehow, the county must get this discussion on a sensible track so that all options for El Toro still can be considered. That’s the best route, but the obvious also must be said after this week’s balloting: Find some extra seats for the lawyers.