Decision on El Toro Plan Is Waiting in the Wings

A decade of wrangling over the future of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station comes to a head in 1998, when detailed plans to convert the base to civilian use will finally emerge in clear focus.

With only a year and a half to go before the Marines pull out, supporters and opponents of using El Toro as a commercial airport will for the first time present in-depth proposals of what they want to do with the 4,700-acre base.

Next year’s elections--in which three seats on the county Board of Supervisors are up for grabs--will also give both sides a chance to influence the board’s precarious 3-2 split in favor of an airport.

“I think 1998 is going to answer a lot of the questions and dispel a lot of the myths about this whole controversy,” said Supervisor William G. Steiner, who could emerge as a critical swing vote on the issue. “If there is a ‘fatal flaw’ with this airport plan, it will probably show up this coming year.”

In the spring, the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the all-important “master plan” for El Toro--an all-encompassing blueprint that will establish for years to come what the base property can and cannot be used for. County officials, following the dictates of two countywide elections that favored using the base for a new commercial airport, will reveal the size, layout and design of the proposed airport and surrounding lands.

At the same time, airport opponents will unveil their own “non-aviation” plan for the base, which is expected to include new parks, office complexes, commercial developments and homes.

Later in the year, the county will embark on the final environmental impact report for the base, the last stage of the four-year planning process.

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The year will also bring a decision on a proposal by airport backers to allow air-cargo flights to begin operating out of El Toro, even before the planning process is completed. Several cargo carriers, including Federal Express, are interested in using the base on an interim basis, though the plan faces a variety of obstacles.

Not surprisingly, the airport issue is expected to dominate the 1998 county elections, as both sides attempt to influence the makeup of the Board of Supervisors, which will ultimately decide what happens to the base.

Anti-airport candidates are running in supervisorial Districts 2 and 4, which are considered pro-airport strongholds in North County. And a pro-airport candidate from Newport Beach is expected to challenge Supervisor Thomas W. Wilson, who--like the majority of his South County constituents--opposes the airport plan.

The El Toro issue has been “superimposed on the election cycle,” said Tom Wall, a member of the county’s El Toro advisory committee. “The decision-makers are all politicians. They are all interested in their own political future. It’s just a fact of life.”

The most heated race is expected in District 4, where Steiner is retiring from elected office. The district, home to Disneyland, Anaheim and surrounding communities, is considered pro-airport because of the local economy’s reliance on tourism. Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly, an airport backer, is considered a possible candidate.

But one already-declared candidate, La Palma Councilman Paul F. Walker, has expressed strong reservations about an airport at El Toro and said the county should focus more on non-aviation uses for the base.

“People have lived around the base for years, and now the county is coming in and imposing an international airport there,” he said. “If that was done in Los Alamitos, everyone would be saying they didn’t want an airport in their backyard.”

In District 2, which covers northwest Orange County, Supervisor Jim Silva is facing another challenge from an anti-airport candidate, former Costa Mesa mayor Sandra L. Genis. Like Walker, Genis has expressed concerns about the way county officials are planning the base’s future.

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Both challengers might receive financial support from airport opponents in South County, who are aware that winning one of the seats could reverse the board’s present 3-2 majority favoring an airport.

“It would be very appropriate to support candidates who would bring new blood . . . and change the course of our efforts,” said Irvine Mayor Christina L. Shea, a vocal airport critic.

But political observers say Genis and Walker face uphill fights--as does any pro-airport candidate who challenges Wilson, an El Toro foe. Wilson’s District 5 embraces much of South County, where residents generally oppose an airport because of the noise and the added traffic it would generate, as well as other environmental concerns.

But the district also includes Newport Beach, where some residents favor a commercial airport at El Toro to relieve airline traffic at John Wayne Airport, which sends jets over the city.

Several Newport Beach officials, including Councilman Thomas Edwards and former Mayor Clarence Turner, have been mentioned as possible challengers to Wilson. Another anti-airport candidate might yet emerge, but Shea said she doubts it.

“From our side, we need to consolidate behind one candidate,” she said. “I think [Wilson] has done a pretty good job. We need to stay united and send a strong message to the county.”

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But the election will probably take a back seat this spring to the long-awaited release of the county’s formal plan for El Toro.

For the first time, the plan will detail exactly what kind of airport the county wants to develop at the base, including the runway configuration, noise levels and what to do with the land surrounding the airport.

The county will present four primary proposals for the base. All plans include an airport but differ on how the surrounding acreage is developed.

County officials have been pointing to the master plan as the document that will answer many of the questions South County residents have about the airport.

“I think this will address many of the concerns over noise, traffic patterns and other matters not put out in the earlier studies,” said Supervisor Charles V. Smith, a strong airport backer. “Another goal is to show people all the mitigation steps that are being taken to protect South County residents.”

For airport foes, the coming year is also a turning point. By March, a final non-aviation plan that includes such ideas as a university campus, parklands and a high-density business development will be presented to the public.

And in April, their plan will be scrutinized by the Board of Supervisors and the federal government.

“For the first time, the people in Orange County are going to be able to get a real look at what is the possible alternative to an airport,” said Paul Eckles, executive director of the anti-airport El Toro Reuse Planning Authority.

Wilson agrees, saying the data provided in both the county report and that of the planning authority will help the public understand what is at stake.

“I’m pleased these plans will be publicly displayed and evaluated on their individual merits,” he said. “Let’s be objective about this and put the rhetoric behind us. Let’s get the facts and figures in front of the public.”

The Board of Supervisors agreed this year to include the planning authority’s non-aviation report in its planning process as a backup proposal in case a “fatal flaw” is found in a commercial airport.

But Wilson said having the two plans side by side boosts the standing of the non-aviation proposal. “If it’s superior and the [county’s plan] is flawed, it could be chosen,” he said.

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The board will review the county’s master plan in April--two months before the supervisorial elections. If the plan is approved, county officials will prepare a final environmental impact report. This report will then be submitted to the board for approval or rejection early in 1999--after the elections.

Besides base planning, 1998 will see activity on other El Toro fronts. Airport backers said they hope to win approval for air cargo flights out of the base--with service perhaps beginning before the Marines pull out in the spring of 1999. The idea faces legal hurdles, notably a federal law prohibiting regular commercial flights from El Toro before the military leaves, as well as deep skepticism from the military.

But Smith and other proponents remain optimistic. “My goal is to have interim use by the end of the year,” he said.

Airport foes remain upbeat about their own long-shot mission: having Irvine annex the base and gain control over planning.

Irvine officials intend to present to the City Council a detailed plan on the annexation issue. But it will be months before a final proposal goes before the Local Agency Formation Commission, which decides on annexation proposals.

Before a plan can be presented to the commission, Irvine and the county must jointly craft an agreement on cost and tax revenue sharing--something that will likely never happen because the county opposes annexation.

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Looking Ahead

Here’s how the battle over the reuse of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station will continue next year:

January

* El Toro Reuse Planning Authority team continues planning for non-aviation use.

* Irvine prepares preliminary plan to annex El Toro.

February

* Preliminary non-aviation plan presented to ETRPA board and public for comment.

March

* Public meetings to present and describe final non-aviation plan and receive final approval from the authority’s board.

* County will decide when to host public hearings on four primary plans for base; all include an airport, but plans for surrounding acreage differ.

April

* The authority presents final non-aviation plan to Board of Supervisors.

* Supervisors select consultant to prepare final environmental impact report on county’s reuse plans.

May

* Final presentation by county staff to supervisors and public on four primary reuse plans.

June

* Public hearings begin for airport and land-use EIR.

September

* County consultants continue work on EIR, scheduled for completion by fall of 1999.

December

* Airport backers hope to begin flying commercial air-cargo jets out of the base, although plan faces various obstacles.

Sources: Orange County, ETRPA; Researched by LORENZA MUNOZ / Los Angeles Times