North County Meeting Draws Small, Anti-Airport Crowd

Defying the conventional wisdom that north Orange County residents are solidly in favor of an airport at El Toro, a majority of speakers at a town hall meeting Monday night in Yorba Linda said they have serious doubts about the plan.

“I’m concerned about the flight path, how it might impact my area,” said Claire Morey of Anaheim Hills. “I’m not too pleased with what I’ve heard from county officials. I find them very evasive about the noise and the flight path.”

Only about 50 people attended the session, one in a series of public forums hosted by Supervisor Todd Spitzer, whose district stretches from Yorba Linda to Mission Viejo.

Monday’s meeting gave many North County residents their first chance to compare the options: an international airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station when the property is turned over to Orange County in 1999; or the non-aviation Millennium Plan, which was prepared by South County cities and would include a central park, housing, office space, a museum and a university.

The scene was markedly different from that two weeks ago, when about 500 people packed the El Toro High School gymnasium to review the two proposals. That crowd, most of whom were strongly opposed to the airport, said they fear that such a facility would increase air and noise pollution and traffic congestion, driving down property values.

Some airport backers complained bitterly that few residents knew about Monday’s session.

“This meeting was not at all well publicized, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen these plans,” said Dan Van Dorpe, an Anaheim resident.

An aide to Spitzer said more than 12,000 fliers went out to school districts, businesses and neighborhood groups across North County.

Several of those who attended echoed concerns of South County residents: that increased pollution, noise and congestion would be inevitable if an international airport were built.

“I think the Millennium Plan is a far more flexible plan than the airport,” resident Clayton Spada said. “Even though I live in Fullerton, believe me, if we had a central park, I would drive down there and use it.”

Others, though, expressed fervent support for the airport. “I’m a regular airport traveler, and I’m sick and tired of driving to LAX and Ontario,” Yorba Linda resident Joyce Clark said. “We need an airport. We don’t need more housing tracts and planned communities.”

County planners propose a facility that could handle as many as 24 million passengers a year at El Toro. It would serve primarily as a long-distance and international airport, while John Wayne Airport would serve short-haul domestic travelers.

Spitzer, elected on an anti-airport platform last year, has softened his position recently, both publicly and privately. Republican Party leaders say he has confided to them that he may run for the state Assembly in a pro-airport district.

But Monday at Yorba Linda Community Center, he told the crowd that he wanted his position against the airport “cleanly on the table.”

“I know that many people in this room think I’m on the wrong side of the issue,” he said. “But I want you to know that there are 400,000 people who are counting on me to get some answers.”