Plans for a ‘Green’ El Toro Offer Ground for New Debate

Barbara Marquet of Costa Mesa walks among the stretches of Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve, bracing for the deafening roar of planes that drown out the constant hum of insects.

“You learn to live with it,” she said of the takeoffs and landings at nearby John Wayne Airport. “I love coming here. That the planes come in is a disturbance, but I wouldn’t give this up because of it.”

Proponents of the new “green” plan for an international airport on the site of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station point to Upper Newport Bay and similar natural spaces across the nation as examples of how aviation and recreation can coexist.

The new version of the El Toro airport plan, approved by the Board of Supervisors earlier this month, guts most of the commercial development previously proposed in favor of expansive parks, golf courses, equestrian facilities and a habitat preserve.

El Toro airport opponents say youngsters playing soccer near the foot of the eastern runway is laughable.

“I want a show of hands of all the people who will take their picnic baskets and little children to go picnic alongside a large commercial airport,” said Bill Kogerman, a vocal anti-airport foe.

“Landscaped crash zones,” said Paul Eckles, head of the coalition of South County cities fighting the airport plan.

The park plan--depending on whom you ask--is either a sow’s ear or a silk purse. Most people would agree that relaxing under the flight paths of a busy commercial airport is less than ideal. Yet such recreation space near an airport is far from unprecedented.

Balboa Park--a popular San Diego destination--is in the flight path of Lindbergh Field. Vista del Mar Park, at the base of Los Angeles International Airport’s west runway, draws those who specifically like the thrill of jets passing just overhead. Golfers on the 16th tee at Newport Beach Golf Course are nearly spitting distance from parked planes at John Wayne Airport.

Jim Fauk, director of parks and recreation for El Segundo, a city that stretches the length of LAX, said the roar of jets hasn’t kept visitors away from local parks.

“I’ve never once heard someone say they didn’t use our parks because of the airport,” said Fauk, who has worked for the city for 12 years. “Nearly all of our parks are close to LAX. Some are very close, but they’re all well-used.”

Donna Arteaga, an associate parks and recreation specialist with California State Parks, said urban parks serve a role.

“In urban areas, there is more demand; there isn’t the expectation that you will find pristine, quiet wilderness,” she said. “Parks that provide for very active use areas would be compatible with the noise.”

As with other debates in the contentious battle over the future of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, the main issue remains the airport.

The new green plan, at least on paper, greatly reduces the number of daily car trips to the airport area when compared with the proposal containing hotels, office towers and entertainment centers.

The shift also may make the conveyance of the federal land to the county less complicated. Under base closure regulations, it is easier to turn over federal land that will be used for public benefit than land zoned for commercial use.

Airport opponents say they fear the move is part of an ongoing shell game, in which the same old problems are being camouflaged.

“They got rid of the wrong thing,” Eckles said. “Now we have an airport plan with no commercial vitality. They threw out the baby to save the bathwater.”

Bryan Seegle, manager of the Environmental Impact Report for the El Toro facility, said changes came about in part because the county decided it was inappropriate to compete with neighboring cities for businesses. In this plan, commercial development originally to be built on the base would go up in surrounding cities, such as Irvine and Lake Forest, officials said.

An airport surrounded by park facilities, he said, serves the greatest number of Orange County residents and addresses ongoing needs in the county for soccer and baseball fields and golf courses.

“People are either for or against the airport,” Seegle said. “Those who are against it are predisposed to say they wouldn’t use the parks.”

At Upper Newport Bay, Marilyn LaBollita, a volunteer naturalist, said the planes bother her only once in a while.

“When I’m trying to record a message on the answering machine and a plane goes over, it’s no good,” she said. Still, she added, the planes have not kept thousands of people, including busloads of Orange County schoolchildren, from visiting.

On the trails, Trisha Smith laughed when asked if she would use a similar park at a future El Toro airport.

“That’s a hot potato,” said the Irvine resident, who runs in parks all over the county. “I like coming here, but I don’t want the airport at El Toro, so I guess I’d have to say I wouldn’t want to use the parks there either.”

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Less Business, More Growth

The Board of Supervisors earlier this month approved a new version of the El Toro airport plan. The “green” plan replaces a high-intensity International Trade Center with extensive parks that would include ball fields, equestrian trails and picnic space. The plan also calls for two 18-hole golf courses, one business and one championship length, and land for agriculture and cultural uses. Plans for a 1,000-acre habitat preserve remain the same.

Source: County of Orange