Has El Toro Issue Made O.C. a House Divided?

Anyone who buys and plans to live in the flight path of an existing and well-established airfield must be ready to accept the noise of the operation initially and realize that conditions governing the operation of the airfield can evolve or change owners.

South County residents are concerned that an airport will increase traffic in their area. They apparently either don’t realize or choose to ignore that it is they themselves who are the cause of the traffic problem that concerns them. I moved to Costa Mesa in 1971. At that time, one could drive to San Diego and enjoy open countryside. But in about five years the landscape began to change. Day by day, the open space south of the then-Orange County airport began to fill up with houses and developments like Leisure World, Irvine, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, El Toro and on and on.

As South County growth continued, freeway traffic increased so that the junction of the San Diego and Santa Ana freeways needed to be expanded. This traffic volume has had a very negative impact on Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Santa Ana without any compensating benefits.

Furthermore, as developers continue in their zeal to cover every square inch of presently unoccupied land, the traffic problem will continue to grow. The volume of auto traffic may actually decrease if a commercial airport is realized, since airline passengers and local companies will not need to use Los Angeles International Airport for travel and shipping, thus easing the load on the 5 and 405 freeways.

Though South County residents are understandably concerned about the impact of a commercial airport on their quality of life, they should realize their own negative impact on previously established communities and make some concessions, just as the rest of us have done with respect to South County’s rapid growth.

A commercial airport will have a very positive effect on the overall business climate and economy of total Orange County and will provide a substantial tax base that can provide relief for all county taxpayers. The reuse of El Toro is a concern not only for South County residents but for all Orange County residents. Their concerns must also be addressed.

WILLIAM J. KEARNS

Costa Mesa

* We have been betrayed again by the Board of Supervisors, the nice people who brought us a bankruptcy and now voted for a commercial airport at El Toro, regardless of the consequences for us.

South County and its hundreds of thousands of property taxpayers are only too obviously ignored. But the county does of course love the high property taxes we pay on our overpriced homes.

The only logical answer is to leave Orange County, set up our own county and elect people who will respect our concerns and represent our interests, not those of greedy speculators.

We are also being betrayed by cold, selfish business interests. Since they love our shopping dollars, we must boycott them by not buying their wares, not buying at their shopping centers, not going to their amusement parks, not buying their videos, films, etc.

Airport promoters and greedy supporters are hurting us. We must fight back to protect ourselves, now.

RODNEY MARTIN COOKER

Irvine

* Yet another commission has decisively ruled that a commercial airport is the best use for El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Some may say that a proposal of this magnitude should really be put to a vote of the people. It has, and the people have overwhelmingly voted to approve this proposal--twice.

It seems to me that this is an example of democracy in action. Not every single person will be pleased, but that is democracy. After all, not everyone voted for President Clinton, but we all are stuck with him.

Yet a highly vocal minority continually vows no airport and no compromise. Didn’t we hear the same loud and useless protests against the recently opened toll road and, before that, complaints about enlarging Laguna Canyon Road to its present four lanes, making it much safer to drive?

These same protesters continually try to tell us that the value of our homes will plummet if an airport is allowed in the area. Well if that were true, just look at the flight path from John Wayne Airport. Therefore, I should be able to sell my house here in El Toro (before the airport is built, of course) and buy a nice home in Newport Beach. Perhaps I could buy two, one a bay-front and the other an ocean-view property.

JACK SMITH

Lake Forest

* Am I missing something here?

For years Orange County, north and south alike, has prided itself on being fiercely pro-Republican and pro-business. Now its all-male, all-white, all-Republican Board of Supervisors has voted to give it a pro-business international airport. Didn’t the residents get what, in principle, they’ve always wanted, from people whose political and philosophical outlook they’ve always supported?

So what’s the problem?

RONALD HALPERN

Laguna Niguel

* Now that four north Orange County supervisors have voted to violate the 5th District with an airport, all I want to know is, where do I go to secede?

DICK BAXTER

Laguna Niguel

* The long-awaited vote is in and now it is official: Orange County is a house divided. The four supervisors that voted to certify the El Toro environmental impact report and to approve a plan for a commercial airport failed to understand the times and the implications of their vote.

If economic prosperity was the goal, they don’t understand that a house divided cannot prosper and cannot stand. Any plan to build an airport at El Toro creates irreconcilable differences between north and south Orange County, differences that may eventually end in divorce and a weaker economy. What does it prosper the north if they gain an airport and lose half the county?

An attempt was made to soften the blow to people that would be most impacted by an El Toro airport, by scaling back and placing restrictions on the proposed operation. The supervisors said that this was the best that South County could hope for. Regrettably, scaling back from the ridiculous to the absurd is little consolation. They say it is time for the airport opponents to come to the negotiating table. What can be gained at the negotiating table in light of the fact that all of the creditable arguments by the opponents against an airport were virtually ignored by the supervisors?

The proponents of the airport at El Toro should understand that it will be much more difficult to put an airport in than it will be to keep one out, and time is not on their side. Lawsuits will be filed, and Orange County will embark on a journey down the slippery road of costly litigation. It is understood that litigation will not prevent an airport at El Toro, but it will buy time for South County to increase in population and political power. The inevitable power shift from north to south will put south Orange County in position to block an airport at El Toro.

MARCEL J. FERNANDEZ

Lake Forest

* Now that Orange County’s government has demonstrated, yet again, that the predominant agenda is greed, maybe South County should consider negotiating in the only currency the international airport proponents understand: money.

Let’s get Disney, George Argyros and the other businesses anxious to profit from El Toro to give stock options in their companies to homeowners in the impacted communities.

Those living closest to the El Toro base should get the largest number of options, those less impacted a smaller number. The options could be granted at today’s prices and vest in 10 to 20 years, when homeowners could sell them at (presumably) much higher prices, thus offsetting their property value losses.

Owners selling before the options vest could sell the option rights along with their property, hopefully offsetting nearer-term losses. This way, those of us who have our biggest investment in our homes might manage to survive financially as the profiteers swarm over El Toro. Untold millions might also be saved by avoiding litigation fees.

Of course, this financial scenario ignores quality-of-life concerns, but other than we selfish South County residents, who cares about that? Just take the money (if you can get it) and run. It’s the Orange County way.

J.M. ANDERSON

Lake Forest