Board Alters El Toro Planning Stance

A majority on the Orange County Board of Supervisors said Monday that they support a proposal that would allow opponents of a commercial airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station to prepare the county’s non-aviation plan for the base.

The consensus marks a major victory for South County officials who oppose an airport and for the first time gives them an official role in planning the future of the 4,700-acre base, which is scheduled to close by 1999.

Supervisors Thomas W. Wilson and Todd Spitzer have long suggested that the Board of Supervisors select a coalition of South County cities to design a non-aviation alternative for the base. The plan would be used should a “fatal flaw” be found in the main airport plan now being developed.

But neither supervisor could secure the backing of a third supervisor--until Monday, when Board Chairman William G. Steiner announced that he would support the proposal.

Steiner said the agreement came after weeks of negotiations involving Wilson, other county officials and members of the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, an association of eight South County cities.

“This is the first positive sign that we can work together to resolve our differences and make the best possible selection for the base,” said Steiner, who unlikeSpitzer and Wilson is an airport supporter. “I think it is a breakthrough.”

Steiner credited Wilson with pulling all sides together even after many people had given up hope of an agreement. “When everyone else threw up their hands, Tom Wilson kept us focused,” he said.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider the matter this morning.

Wilson’s proposal would give the reuse planning authority until April 3 to submit a detailed non-aviation plan for the base that would be incorporated into the larger “master plan” now being developed. People have suggested building an education center, entertainment complex, homes or commercial developments.

The authority is expected to spend about $1 million on the study. But the county would spend another $700,000 to configure the authority’s document into the full master plan.

More important, the proposal does not require the authority to drop its lawsuit challenging the sufficiency of the county’s El Toro environmental impact report. In August, County Chief Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier proposed that the county include the group’s study only if it dropped the litigation.

Wilson said Monday that he hopes the agreement means future cooperation between both sides.

“I believe this delivers what South County residents have been asking for,” Wilson said. “I think it’s a giant step and I hope it brings an improvement” in relations.

Monday night, authority board members met in closed session to discuss the issue.

“We are really pleased,” said board member and Laguna Niguel Mayor Patricia C. Bates. “This is something we have been working on for years.”

Board Chairman and Lake Forest Councilman Richard Dixon said having the authority involved in the planning process will add credibility to the organization, which might not be as well known in North County.

But one of the most significant issues is the concession made on the lawsuit issue, Dixon said.

The authority filed its lawsuit in January, alleging that the county’s preliminary environmental impact report on El Toro failed to address the potential for noise, traffic and pollution from an airport.

The Board of Supervisors had approved the report in December. It called for converting the base into an international airport capable of serving up to 25 million passengers a year.

“Sometimes you just need to sit down and talk things out, and I think that there is sincere interest on the county’s part to do the right thing,” Dixon said.

* EL TORO REUSE POLL

By small margin, commercial airport is opposed. A1