Irvine’s El Toro Fight Takes New Direction: South

Trying a new tack in its effort to block an airport at El Toro, Irvine this week hired a political consulting firm to determine whether Orange County and San Diego County can join forces in developing a new international airport.

The consultant, Watson & Co. of San Diego, is scheduled to meet over the next few months with top San Diego government officials and business leaders about the idea of building a regional airport somewhere between John Wayne Airport and San Diego International Airport--Lindbergh Field.

Both counties face a remarkably similar dilemma: They are served by relatively small airports rapidly reaching their capacity. Most international travelers must now fly out of Los Angeles International Airport.

Plans to expand Lindbergh Field with a new international runway are meeting with opposition from the surrounding community, as are plans for a civilian airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

“The common sense approach would be to have something between the two urban areas,” said Irvine Councilman Greg Smith. “We feel there needs to be a regional solution.”

But the concept of a regional airport faces its own set of challenges. Irvine officials haven’t selected any proposed sites, suggesting the airport could be built somewhere along Interstate 15 in northern San Diego County or southern Riverside County, or perhaps on land at Camp Pendleton.

San Diego officials, however, are focusing much farther to the south. Besides the Lindbergh expansion near downtown, officials want to convert Brown Field along the U.S.-Mexican border into an all-cargo airport.

El Toro backers point out the Camp Pendleton idea isn’t likely to fly because the sprawling base is surrounded by mountains and hills that would make takeoffs and departures problematic. In any case, they say, the military has no plans to leave.

“This is an issue of everyone wanting someone else to take their air traffic demand,” said Peggy Ducey, a top Newport Beach official and executive director of a coalition of cities that supports the El Toro plan. “The fact is that no one wants to live by an airport. . . . We can’t just push our need for airport service onto someone else.”

Like Orange County, San Diego has been grappling for years over whether to build a new airport. Officials have considered everything from a “floatport” with runways built on the surface of San Diego Bay to a new facility straddling the border.

“We’ve seen initiatives come and go without resolution,” said Jim Hutzelman, senior public affairs specialist for the Port of San Diego, which operates Lindbergh Field.

The port is beginning plans for an expansion of the airport because it recognizes no other sites are on the horizon, with the exception of cargo service from Brown Field, said Hutzelman. “We don’t see another location [for passenger service] out there,” he added.

Communities across Southern California are struggling to address the rapidly growing demand for air service. Orange County is proposing a commercial airport at El Toro that would handle 19 million to 28 million passengers a year by 2020.

A key benefit of El Toro is its central location in the heart of an economically booming area. It remains unclear whether an airport in a remote section of Riverside or San Diego counties would attract the business.

Smith said that if a convenient alternative site outside Orange County is found, it could serve as an international airport with John Wayne and Lindbergh Field serving shorter- and medium-haul domestic service.

“I think we can find something that works for everyone,” Smith said. “It’s worth a try.”

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Airport Alternative

Irvine officials have hired a consultant to study the idea of working with San Diego County to build a regional airport somewhere between John Wayne Airport and San Diego International Airport--Lindbergh Field. But there are already plans afoot to expand Lindbergh and convert Brown Field, at Otay Mesa, into an all-cargo facility.

1. John Wayne Airport

2. El Toro

3. San Diego International Airport--Lindbergh Field

4. Proposed cargo airport at Otay Mesa

Source: Times reports