O.C. Supervisors Back Plan for El Toro Airport

The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday endorsed building an international airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station but dramatically scaled back its size to appease opponents.

The supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of the plan, ruling out options to turn the 4,700-acre facility into a cargo-general aviation airport or use it for non-aviation purposes.

A base reuse proposal will now be sent to the Department of the Navy by year’s end. The vote also launches another environmental impact study and master planning study, and two years could pass before the supervisors can make a final decision on reuse of the base.

Critics have questioned the need for a second major airport in Orange County, which is already served by John Wayne Airport, but consultants hired by the county believe aviation demand will grow so much over the next 30 years that an El Toro airport will serve an expanding market.

Already, many northern San Diego County residents drive to John Wayne Airport for their shorter-distance travel needs, according to passenger studies. An El Toro airport would draw passengers who dislike traveling to Los Angeles International Airport, according to consultants.

Southern California airports are already responding to rosy predictions of increasing passenger demand. Los Angeles International, which handled 58 million passengers this year, is considering expansion, as are several other area airports, but LAX officials have also said the region’s most dominant airport is reaching capacity and have called on other areas--including Orange County--to help meet regional aviation needs.

Newly appointed Supervisor Thomas W. Wilson, who cast the lone vote against the airport, said he was disappointed that he could not convince his colleagues to delay voting on the airport and an environmental impact report. He claimed that the report failed to answer troubling questions about how a major international airport would affect his constituents in southern Orange County who live near the base and under projected flight paths.

“I fear the bottom-line message is that their new south county supervisor failed them,” Wilson said.

The original proposal called for an international and commercial airport that would have been one of the largest in the nation, serving up to 38.3 million passengers a year and challenging Los Angeles International Airport for overseas travelers and cargo shipments.

But after listening to more than 10 hours of emotional and sometimes hostile testimony Tuesday from elected officials, activist groups and south Orange County residents, the supervisors crafted a list of concessions, including:

* Limiting the number of passengers served at an El Toro airport, with proposed caps set at 25 million passengers annually or 10 million passengers annually.

* Studying non-aviation uses for the base, such as a university campus, athletic stadium or ballfield, in case future studies conclude that an airport is not workable at El Toro.

* Banning takeoffs from existing runways leading west over Irvine.

* Voicing support for keeping the county’s existing aviation facility, John Wayne Airport. The scenario envisions the two airports working together to serve commercial, cargo and general aviation needs. Few places in the United States have two airports so close together.

* Exploring the feasibility of a ban on night flights and exceptionally noisy aircraft at an El Toro airport.

* Urging test flights of commercial aircraft to El Toro to allow residents to assess noise.

Supervisors who favored the airport said they tried to strike a compromise by going ahead with the airport planning process while agreeing to restrictions to protect neighborhoods.

The attempted compromise, however, may already be unraveling.

Moments after the board vote, Supervisor Jim Silva said that when board members take office in January--Charles V. Smith will replace Roger R. Stanton and Todd Spitzer will replace Donald Saltarelli--he wants to reconsider at least one concession.

Silva questioned spending millions to study a non-aviation option when such a plan might never be seriously considered.

“We shouldn’t be doing a $5-million study when we’re not sure it will be needed,” he said.

And the Irvine City Council voted Tuesday night to file a lawsuit over the supervisors’ action--one of many legal challenges expected from south Orange County residents and cities hoping to stop the airport. One earlier attempt at a legal challenge was unsuccessful and is being appealed.

Others flatly accused the county of trying to hoodwink the public by pretending to be studying non-aviation options.

The airport is the most contentious issue in Orange County. A hearing that began Tuesday afternoon and ended 12 hours later drew more than 600 people, many of whom had to mill about in the halls or find a place in two overflow seating rooms.

The meeting--the longest in board history--dragged on until after 1 a.m., when weary board members adjourned until 11 a.m. Wednesday.

The reuse of the base has sharply divided opponents, who mostly live in south county near the base, and proponents, who have twice carried elections calling for the base, which the military is scheduled to abandon in 1999, to be turned into a commercial airport.

Supervisors acknowledged Wednesday that efforts to reach a compromise between the warring factions have failed. South county residents say they would rather fight the issue in court than negotiate for any aviation use at the military base.

“[Former Supervisor] Marian Bergeson and I hoped to bring consensus in the south county and give people there a strong voice in the decision-making process,” Saltarelli said. “But I learned from experience that it’s not possible.”

Steiner said he hoped that the board action would force airport opponents to come to the negotiating table.

Times staff writer H. G. Reza contributed to this report.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

El Toro’s Flight Plan

The Orange County Board of Supervisors endorsed plans to build a second international airport, at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. The base is scheduled to be retired by the military in 1999.

A COMPARISON

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NEW EL TORO JOHN WAYNE Maximum passengers per year 38.3 million 7.2 million Longest runway 10,000 feet 5,700 feet

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Source: Airport Development Report; John Wayne figures are for 1995