El Toro Airport Plan Approved : Some Concessions Made to Appease S. County

In one of the most critical and controversial land-use decisions in Orange County history, the 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.

Supervisors who favored the airport in the 4-1 vote said they tried to strike a compromise by going ahead with the airport planning process while agreeing to restrictions to protect South County neighborhoods.

“I don’t know what we could have done to be more fair,” said Supervisor Don Saltarelli.

But supervisors recognized that nothing short of rejecting the airport proposal outright would satisfy residents in South County, where worries over airport noise, traffic and air pollution caused deep resentment toward North County, where support for the airport runs high.

“This will still be a bitter pill for South County,” acknowledged Supervisor William G. Steiner, whose district includes Disneyland and other tourist destinations that lobbied hard for an airport. “But the best deal has been cut.”

Newly appointed Supervisor Thomas W. Wilson said he was disappointed he couldn’t persuade his colleagues to delay voting on the airport and an environmental impact report that he contends failed to answer troubling questions about how a major international airport would affect his South County constituents living near the base and under projected flight paths.

“I fear the bottom-line message is that their new South County supervisor failed them,” Wilson lamented.

The original base redevelopment proposal called for an international commercial airport that would have been one of the largest in the nation, serving as many as 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 County residents, the supervisors crafted a list of concessions on Wednesday, including:

* Limiting an El Toro airport to 25 million annual passengers at the 4,700-acre base, or even as few as 10 million a year.

* Studying non-aviation uses for the base, such as a university campus, athletic stadium or ball field, in case future studies conclude 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 major 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 in and out of El Toro to allow residents to assess a commercial airport’s potential noise.

The attempted compromise, however, may already be unraveling.

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

Silva questioned the wisdom of spending millions of dollars studying a non-aviation reuse for the base when that option may never be seriously considered.

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

South County opponents said they didn’t know what to be angrier about--the vote or the notion that they should be grateful for the concessions.

“I think that’s nonsense,” said Laguna Beach resident Todd Thornton. “The whole process has been riddled with flaws; it’s all been designed to move this process forward no matter what.”

Irvine Councilman Barry Hammond, who once proposed building a 50-story day-care center next to the Marine base to block a commercial airport from being built, said the supervisors’ vote “was like being hit on the head with a baseball bat.”

“We took a hard hit, but it’s not over yet,” said Hammond. “An airport at El Toro is not inevitable. There are still a million issues to resolve and for anybody to start celebrating for a new airport is optimistic on their part, but premature.”

The Irvine City Council voted Tuesday night to file a lawsuit over the issue--one of many legal challenges expected from South 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 to shift attention from the airport proposal. “This shows that the board hasn’t been listening to anything we’ve been saying for all these years,” Irvine resident David Jayburn said. “They’re going ahead with an airport and the rest is just window dressing.”

Harking back to the county’s bankruptcy, Carrie Parent, a Lake Forest resident, said, “My own personal opinion with this is that if our county supervisors couldn’t even supervise the county finances, why should they have the final say on this?”

But business leaders and elected officials in North County hailed the board vote, saying the airport will boost the local economy, bringing with it thousands of jobs.

George Argyros, a wealthy Newport Beach developer who played a key role in the political drive to convert the Marine base into a commercial airport, said the facility could be used for cargo flights as soon as the Marines leave.

“That won’t be much of a problem as they start to vacate the base,” Argyros said.

“I think the board seized the future today,” said Garden Grove Councilman Mark Leyes, a longtime El Toro airport booster. “We need a second airport to meet our destiny of becoming a world-class county.”

Critics have questioned the need for a second airport in Orange County, 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 residents of northern San Diego County drive to John Wayne Airport for their shorter-distance travel needs, according to passenger studies. An El Toro airport will draw area residents who dislike traveling to Los Angeles for national and international travel, according to consultants.

Southern California airports are already responding to rosy predictions of increasing passenger demand. Los Angeles International Airport is considering expansion, as are several other area airport, 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 do their share to meet regional aviation needs.

The airport is the single 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 were forced to mill about the halls or find a place in two overflow-seating rooms.

The marathon meeting--the longest in board history--dragged on until after 1 a.m., when weary board members finally 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 an airport when the military abandons El Toro in mid-1999.

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 out in a courtroom 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 the board action would force South County to come to the negotiating table.

“Only by selecting this alternative now can we have hope of fashioning a compromise,” he said. “Without this alternative there is no incentive to move off the ‘absolutely no airport’ option.”

With the board action Wednesday, a base reuse proposal will be sent to the U.S. Department of the Navy by year’s end. The vote also launches another environmental impact study and master planning study likely to take up to two years before the Board of Supervisors can make a final decision on how the base will be reused.

Retiring Board Chairman Roger R. Stanton emerged as the pivotal figure, suggesting a variety of changes to the county’s airport proposal and attempting to bridge differences between supporters and opponents.

“I envisioned some kind of option that allows for flexibility,” said Stanton, who finalized his proposal late Wednesday morning over coffee at the Nordstrom cafe.

Times staff writers Shelby Grad and H.G. Reza contributed to this report.

* EXPENSIVE SUITS: Both opponents and supporters see long, costly legal fight. A44

* THE FIRST FALLOUT: El Toro area real estate market already feeling the effects. A44

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE PLAN

A summary of the action taken by the Board of Supervisors regarding a plan to convert El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport:

* Certified an environmental impact report on the project.

* Authorized a more extensive study of a commercial airport.

* Launched an alternative plan to convert El Toro into a “non-aviation” use. The plan could be implemented if the board later decides an airport is unacceptable.

* Expressed a preference that John Wayne Airport remains open, even if El Toro is converted into a commercial airport.

* Reduced maximum capacity of an El Toro airport from 38.3 million passengers to 25 million a year.

* Directed staff to develop plans for airport that handles 10 million, 15 million, 20 million or 25 million passengers a year.

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THE COMPROMISE

“I feel good that at least they recognized there has to be flexibility. But the message I see is that an aviation use is primary.”

--Supervisor Thomas W. Wilson, who voted against the El Toro plan

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“The outcome provides future boards with a great deal of flexibility. It doesn’t freeze their feet in concrete on one type of use and the direction to go.”

--Board Chairman Roger R. Stanton, who helped craft board’s action on El Toro

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“I know this will be a bitter pill for south Orange County. . . . [But] the best deal has been cut. I hope it can help foster compromise.”

--Supervisor William G. Steiner