Airport Foes to Ask Judge for Look at County Plans

For several years, opponents of a civilian airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station have tried to find a smoking gun that proves county officials will end commercial flights at John Wayne Airport once an airport is built at the Marine base.

On Friday, they may get some help in their quest for information.

In response to a lawsuit by the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority--the leading anti-airport organization--Judge Warren Siegal will hear arguments and decide whether the county must hand over several documents on the airport plan.

ETRPA and other foes of a civilian airport at El Toro fear that if the county stops commercial flights from John Wayne Airport, then virtually all air travel will go in and out of El Toro.

Sentiment in South County is strongly against building a commercial airport at El Toro. Many residents and officials fear the facility will create noise, devalue homes and pose increased safety hazards.

The suit seeks the county consultant’s detailed reports on whether it will make financial sense to use both John Wayne Airport and El Toro for commercial flights.

In December 1996, the county Board of Supervisors voted for the El Toro airport plan on condition that John Wayne would continue to serve as a commercial airport. It was part of an attempt to give some concessions to South County residents so they would not be burdened by having all commercial flights from El Toro.

But critics have maintained that running two commercial airports so close together is not possible. And the answer may lie in those reports the county has not released, they contend.

“This could be the blowing away of the smoke screen,” of what the county is planning, said Leonard Kranser, an airport opponent who publishes an informational web site on El Toro. “This would mean that we were right and that the county has been trying to pull the wool over our eyes.”

The contention that having two commercial airports seven miles apart is not economically feasible and may be unsafe was voiced in 1996 memos from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Transport Assn.--the latter group representing the airlines.

Both agencies stated serious concerns about using both airports for commercial travel.

In addition, another set of county consultant reports--which the county released on Monday--suggest that maintaining two airports might not be possible.

Still, county consultants say they are bound to look at the two-airport option because of the board’s direction in December.

They deny that they are holding back any final conclusions, adding that they plan to release the two-airport feasibility study--which the anti-airport group has sued to obtain--by Feb. 27.

“There is no question that operating a two-airport system is going to be a challenge,” said Michael Gatzke, the county’s lead attorney on El Toro-related issues.

He said the airlines have made it clear that operating out of two airports so close together would not make financial sense. “These are tough, hard questions,” Gatzke said. “Nobody has made up their minds about a two-airport system.”

Though county officials say they are trying to work out a two-airport solution, similar to how Dallas/Ft. Worth and Love Field function, they know it will be difficult.

In reports released Monday, county consultants pointed out that it would be less expensive to run one large airport than two smaller airports.

“The airlines would prefer to minimize their costs by concentrating all services at one airport,” according to the report.

By approving the county’s reuse plan for El Toro and the environmental impact report in December 1996, supervisors virtually ensured that an airport would be built at the 4,700-acre Marine base.

The reuse plan called for El Toro eventually taking over the commercial and cargo flights, with John Wayne serving as a general aviation airport by 2020. A general aviation airport handles only small and private airplane traffic.

Newport Beach officials have made it clear that they support John Wayne Airport staying open as a commercial airport. They have not studied the impact a general aviation-only airport would have on their economy.

EDITOR AGRE In taking the December 1996 vote, critics allege, supervisors did not take into account an internal memo from the FAA dated September 1996 stating that two airports so close to each other would cause “significant problems for air traffic.”

The memo, signed by George Williams, the manager of the FAA’s western region air traffic division, further said that the “only viable solution to the problems would be the application of a “turnkey” type operation, wherein the existing John Wayne Airport would close when the MCAS El Toro Airport opens.”

FAA spokesman Mitch Barker said the agency will not have a position on El Toro until the county’s detailed plans with the layout for the airport are completed, which will take many more months.

The Air Transport Assn. stated its concerns about operating two airports in an October 1996 letter. While association officials have stated that further economic studies would need to be done, using both airports could present problems.

“Airlines are further concerned about supporting an operation at El Toro while we continue to maintain our facilities at John Wayne Airport,” wrote Edward A. Merlis, senior vice president of the agency. “We cannot afford to pay for two facilities simultaneously, and if El Toro were developed as a commercial airport, we would need a resolution to the issue of the future of John Wayne Airport.”

Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who opposes the El Toro airport plan, predicted that the Board of Supervisors would have to take on the John Wayne issue again.

“The board is going to have to overrule the December resolution,” he said. “For the first time we know staff is working on an El Toro-only scenario. They are setting everything up for a one-airport system.”