O.C. to Be Asked to Rethink Issue

A group representing South County cities opposed to an airport at El Toro voted Monday to formally ask Orange County supervisors for a chance to sponsor an alternative plan.

The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority this month will propose that it form bipartisan committees, including members of the general public and airport supporters, to develop another plan for the base.

“This is the last opportunity to work with the county before the issue is settled by the courts,” said Patricia C. Bates, Laguna Niguel’s mayor and a board member of the authority. “This our chance to come up with [an airport alternative] in a controlled and supervised process.”

The South County cities surrounding the airport view the proposal as an opportunity to show that an international airport is not the best use of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

“I have always believed that the truth will be found in the data,” Bates said. “We’re just looking to compare the two plans and let the public decide which is better.”

However, a county spokeswoman pointed out that the supervisors decided in December to build an airport.

“The supervisors considered three proposals [nonaviation, commercial airport and freight airfield] and made their decision,” said Courtney Wiercioch, manager of the county’s El Toro master development plan. “The county has adopted a reuse plan.”

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At the same time, supervisors voted to have someone develop a nonaviation plan only as a contingency in case the airport proposal was unworkable--not as a competing plan, Wiercioch said.

Members of the South County coalition say that broad participation from all segments of the county, including organizations that support the airport, will ensure the credibility of their plan.

The Orange County Business Council, which supports an airport, also might agree to participate, depending on what its role would be, Executive Director Stan Oftelie said.

The South County group proposes to start with committees that would include members of the public and would deal with issues such as land use and economics.

The committees would report to an executive advisory committee, which could include organizations such as the business council.

Members of the authority’s board of directors would have the final vote on any nonaviation proposal.