Rejection of One El Toro Plan Urged

Two Orange County supervisors said Wednesday that they favor killing the largest of four airport plans being considered for the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, stirring concern among some airport backers.

Supervisor Tom Wilson, an opponent of turning the base into an airport, proposed that the county stop work on Alternative D, which calls for a facility capable of handling 33.6 million passengers by 2020. Supervisor William G. Steiner, an airport supporter, said he will back Wilson’s proposal at next week’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who has said he opposes any airport at El Toro, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

“I want to put a bullet through the head of Alternative D,” Steiner said. “That proposal is far too big. It’s completely unacceptable.”

Wilson’s suggestion comes three weeks after county officials unveiled four separate El Toro proposals. The Board of Supervisors endorsed a moderate-sized airport that by 2020 could handle 25 million passengers.

But the board directed planners to conduct an environmental impact report on all four plans, leaving open the possibility that new supervisors who take office in January could select a larger airport. The board is scheduled to vote on a final plan for El Toro in the fall of 1999.

If Wilson, Spitzer and Steiner halt any further study of Alternative D next week, the board cannot consider the plan when taking the final vote next year.

Wilson worried that airport boosters would make a new push for a larger facility next year after Steiner steps down. Steiner is a swing vote on the issue, having said he would not support an airport that causes major noise and traffic problems for nearby residents.

“My fear is that once Steiner leaves the board, his replacement, whoever that is, might abandon his position,” Wilson said. “We need to take that large-airport plan off the table.”

Wilson’s proposal is unlikely to win the backing of the two other pro-airport supervisors, Charles V. Smith and Jim Silva. Wilson is more likely to pick up the support of Spitzer.

Alternative D is considered the most challenging of the four plans.

It calls for about 460 daily commercial flights at El Toro by 2020--nearby double the number proposed in the moderate plan endorsed by the board last month.

Airport supporters say they doubt that Alternative D is feasible. But they are worried that not studying the proposal as part of the environmental impact report could open the county to legal troubles. Airport opponents might argue in court that the county did not explore the worse-case scenario for the airport, they say.

“We just can’t [have] . . . the whole process fall apart in the courtroom,” said Gary Proctor, chairman of a county airport advisory group. “I am concerned about the legality of not having” Alternative D studied.

Other airport backers questioned whether Wilson’s proposal was simply an effort by airport foes to sabotage the county’s planning procedure.

“I have no reason to take [Alternative D] off the table until I know what the ramifications are on the planning process,” Smith said.

If Wilson’s proposal is approved, the largest airport the board could approve in fall 1999 is Alternative B, which would serve 28 million passengers by 2020. The new board could direct officials to conduct an environmental impact report on Alternative D after all, but that would take several months to complete, throwing the planning process off schedule.