Costa Mesa May Compromise on El Toro Airport

As Costa Mesa city officials prepare to break their silence over plans to build a commercial airport at the retiring El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, a former federal air-safety official renewed safety concerns Thursday about the dual-airport system backed by the county.

The city, which sits in the shadow of John Wayne Airport and has remained neutral in the airport debate, is poised to consider a compromise plan that calls for an airport at El Toro that matches John Wayne’s capacity for 8.4 million passengers annually. The county has proposed expanding El Toro to handle up to 25 million annual passengers by 2020.

The proposal by Costa Mesa City Councilman Joe Erickson, who also advocates limiting expansion of John Wayne, was promptly attacked by opponents who say an airport of any size at El Toro is unacceptable.

The chilly reception to Erickson’s proposal reflects the growing divide between the factions in the heated debate and points out the challenges facing those trying to find common ground in one of the most controversial planning issues to face Orange County.

Erickson said he crafted his proposal to end years of bickering that are “dividing the county.” Residents in Costa Mesa have long lived with airport noise at nearby John Wayne Airport, Erickson said, and he believes South County can adjust to an El Toro Airport if similar restrictions on size and flight curfews are established.

“I think the residents of South County deserve the same protections that we in Costa Mesa enjoy,” Erickson said. “I just think if both sides were to sit down and look at this as a reasonable compromise, we could put our tax dollars to good use.”

Among those criticizing the proposal were a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation, who was invited to Orange County Thursday to discuss her belief that there is “no way” airports at John Wayne and El Toro could safely operate within such proximity.

The former official, Mary Schiavo, predicted that the Federal Aviation Administration would not look favorably upon the runways at El Toro unless they were drastically altered and extended. To do so would place El Toro flights in the way of traffic from John Wayne, just seven miles away, said Schiavo, who was paid $3,500 to speak before the South Orange County Chambers of Commerce in Lake Forest.

“The FAA has not been approving new airports with short intersecting runways with obstacles at the end of the runway,” Schiavo said in an interview. “If El Toro is going to go commercial, then the runways have to be changed. If you line up the runways to make them parallel and make El Toro safe, then that will put the flights directly into the John Wayne flight path. I do not see both airports operating together. No way.”

Orange County planners have maintained that a dual-airport system will not pose any danger.

“We do not anticipate any airspace issues, and we believe that El Toro and John Wayne will be perfectly compatible,” said Ellen Cox Call, a county spokeswoman. “Our direction from the [Orange County Board of Supervisors] is to plan an airport that is both safe and sensitive to surrounding communities, and we have found a way to do both. . . . The Marines have been using those runways for 50 years, and all of our studies indicate that the runways are safe.”

Richard Dixon, head of the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, an anti-airport group, said he agrees with Erickson’s suggestion of limiting expansion at John Wayne, but said he cannot accept an airport of any size at El Toro.

Erickson’s proposal may also face a council challenge. Mayor Peter Buffa, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, has recently suggested that the city rejoin the Orange County Airport Authority, a pro-airport organization it withdrew from in 1996.

The compromise plan also faces significant legal hurdles: Current federal law makes it difficult to impose special regulations--such as flight curfews--at the nation’s airports.

In support of Erickson’s proposal is Clarence Turner of Newport Beach, former head of the Airport Working Group, which advocates a smaller airport at El Toro.

“An airport the size of John Wayne in that area would handle Orange County’s airport needs for the foreseeable future,” he said.

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Also contributing to this report was Times staff writer Lorenza Munoz.