Airport Foes Favor an ‘Urban Village’

The leading anti-airport agency voted Wednesday in favor of a plan that would turn the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a park and a research and development center rather than an airport.

The “Urban Village Plan” could create from 35,000 to 46,000 jobs at the base, according to the board of the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, which voted unanimously for the proposal.

“The airport is not a done deal,” said the group’s chairman, Richard Dixon. “The people of Orange County are going to have another option.”

Last fall, the county Board of Supervisors agreed to let the organization develop an alternative to the county’s plan for a commercial airport at the base.

The Marines plan to leave the base in July 1999. The county is scheduled to release four preliminary plans--all of which include an airport--for the base this spring, and a final plan in mid-1999.

On Wednesday, planners for the Reuse Planning Authority said their proposal also would create up to 87,000 off-site jobs by the year 2020 and generate $8 billion for the county by the year 2020.

Planners estimate about $240 million in infrastructure costs, including building the roads and ripping out the runways. Some of that money would have to come from public funding, the consultants said.

The final proposal must be completed by April 3 and sent to the Board of Supervisors for review. If the county approves, it could serve as a fall-back plan.

Under the alternative plan, nearly 50% of the land would be open space, including a park, recreational facilities, golf courses and a wild life habitat preserve. The remaining land would be used for a learning center, focusing on high tech industries, residences, residential, office space, and an entertainment complex.