Planners Push ‘Community’ Airport Idea

Furiously pushing ahead with plans for an international airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, planners are working out the details for the project and hoping that even the staunchest airport foe will be impressed.

Planners hope to not only create a user-friendly civilian airport but also to design an “airport community” of sorts where area residents and travelers alike can meet, socialize and take off for their destinations.

Led by Steven W. Ross and Richard Ramella of the Newport Beach-based Planning Center, an army of nearly 100 architects, planners, aviation experts and airport economics advisors face the daunting task of creating an innovative facility at the 4,700-acre surplus military base.

The goal, Ross said, is to make a 21st century airport play the role that railroad stations played in the 19th century. That is, making the airport a destination that will become a hub of Orange County activity, just as the railroad station was to growing urban areas years ago.

“Here’s an opportunity, a big piece of the pie right in the middle of Orange County. What would we like to do with that resource?” Ross said. “In the late 19th century, cities in this country thrived or failed on whether or not the train stopped in their town. . . . How can the airport itself play a role in enhancing the quality of life in Orange County?”

Though similar plans for airports nationwide are sweeping the architecture and planning fraternities, Ross acknowledges that it will be a challenge to change the perception of an airport as being a place where one seeks a way out as quickly as possible.

In addition, Orange County planners must deal with broad opposition to the airport among South County residents who fear a civilian airport’s impact on safety, noise and their property values. Two suits have been filed contending that the county’s environmental impact report on the airport conversion is inadequate.

Some critics say the county’s plans to create an airport community featuring fine dining, retail shops, golf course, hotel and environmental benefits is an attempt to appease opponents.

“Orange County already has outstanding places to dine and shop. Why go to an airport in the heat and noise of El Toro if you can go to Laguna Beach, Balboa Island, Corona del Mar or Fashion Island?” said Len Kranser of Dana Point, a leading opponent of the airport. “A community airport sounds like just the thing for Buffalo or Amarillo, where they don’t have too much else to offer.”

In July, project planners got the go-ahead from the county to begin mapping out the look of the airport. Since they are only a few months into the process, the planners have not ironed out the details or lined up any potential businesses, Ross said.

But they are not short on ideas, and they have divided the project into three areas: public relations, the aviation master plan team and the planned community/specific plan team.

The acreage surrounding the airport also must be considered for future uses. The specific plan team includes engineering and planning consultants who were involved with the planned communities of Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo and Lake Forest.

Their master plan, which will be carefully dissected by many, must be submitted to the county by next spring.

“The County of Orange is observed and analyzed by planning experts around the country,” Ross said. “We live in a large progressive laboratory for planning. We will be held to a high standard.”

Orange County planners are using Berlin’s Tempelhof airport as one of their models, saying the airport is located in the heart of the city, making it an integrated part of the German capital.

One of the biggest challenges they face is creating an open, flowing space for traffic in an area that was designed to keep outsiders away, Ross said. Potentially, it could bring an improvement to the regional transportation network that was not possible when the airport served as a military facility, he added.

The San Diego and Santa Ana freeways, the Eastern Transportation Corridor and Foothill Transportation Corridor give access to the airport area.

In addition, new roads must be built in the area immediately surrounding the base, Ross said.

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Airport opponents say traffic is a major issue.

Already, freeways at rush hour are impenetrable, Laguna Niguel Mayor Patricia C. Bates said. “At certain hours, it’s a parking lot out there.”

Bates added that the non-aviation plan for the airport, which is also scheduled to go to the county in the spring, will offer the same attractions as the aviation plan--with the key exception of an airport.

“I think it’s great we’ve got two projects we are looking at,” she said. “A planning process will bring perception into reality. We are up and running.”