El Toro Reuse Panel Details Urban, Park, College Options

Hoping to show that El Toro Marine Corps Air Station can be used for something other than a commercial airport, the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority on Monday previewed plans for alternatives that range from a museum to a sports complex.

Other potential uses for the 4,700-acre surplus military base include a college, or retail shops or houses.

Planners for the authority, made the lead agency for studying potential non-aviation uses by the Board of Supervisors two months ago, will detail their plans Wednesday at a public meeting in Irvine.

“I think that they are very innovative in their approach,” said Laguna Niguel Mayor Patricia C. Bates, an authority board member. Alternative uses “are being designed around transportation and budget constraints. I think we are going in the right direction.”

The authority unveiled three potential ways to reuse El Toro:

* An Urban Center calls for putting houses on 1,154 acres with nearly the same amount of land allocated for commercial, industrial and hotel development. An additional 1,000 acres would be used for such recreational areas as a golf course, an arena, a convention center, a museum and a college.

Agency planners estimate that nearly 50,000 on-site jobs would be created with about $8.5 billion in gross revenues generated by the plan. However, there would be no open space and the plan would generate heavy traffic, planners said.

* The Central Park option entails more than 300 acres for a park with hiking trails leading into Limestone Canyon. Only 766 acres would be used for housing with nearly 1,000 acres reserved for commercial and retail use. A museum, arena, theme park and convention center would be included in this plan.

Planners estimate the gross revenues and on-site jobs would be the same as with the first option, but they say there would be significantly less traffic.

* College Town would put housing on nearly 2,000 acres with about 700 acres for a college and research and development companies. The number of jobs generated--35,000--would be significantly fewer than under the other options. Gross revenues would be nearly $2 billion less than any of the other plans.

Although the various options have been publicly aired before, the authority provided more detail Monday. By January, the authority’s board will choose one plan to submit to the county by April. The non-aviation proposal would be considered a serious alternative only if a fatal flaw is found in the county’s preferred plan to turn the base into a commercial airport.

Supervisor Charles V. Smith, an airport supporter, said he is eager to see what the authority has in mind.

“I’m happy to see that they are moving ahead with a backup plan because they have an April 1 deadline to submit [it] to the county,” he said. “I’m very curious to see it.”

The preliminary alternative plans were overseen by BV Engineering, an Irvine-based firm headed by Bill Vardoulis, former Irvine mayor.

Vardoulis said he hopes Wednesday’s public forum will pique interest in the planning process. The meeting is scheduled from 7 to 10 p.m. at Irvine City Hall.

“I hope the public gets an understanding of at least the planning process and where we are heading,” said Vardoulis. “We want people to provide input and hear what our plans are.”

Also Monday, county planners released a report looking at the possibility of cargo flights out of El Toro before the Marines pull out by 1999.

But the report did find that demand for additional cargo service in Orange County is strong and growing rapidly. The base also appears to offer “adequate facilities” to accommodate cargo service, the study said.

County planners stressed that federal law prohibits regularly scheduled commercial flights from El Toro while the Marines are there. This law would have to be amended before flights could begin, the report said.

*

Times staff writer Shelby Grad contributed to this report.