South County Official Touts Expanded John Wayne Airport

A key South County leader on Tuesday resurrected the highly volatile issue of expanding John Wayne Airport, suggesting that the facility could be tripled in size, negating the need to build an airport at El Toro.

Assemblywoman Patricia Bates told an Assembly committee meeting in Santa Ana that the option should at least be on the table.

She said John Wayne, the county’s existing airport, could grow to handle an estimated 24 million passengers a year in 2020--a proposal once studied by the county but rejected as too expensive.

“I’m not suggesting that the people of Newport Beach should have to endure that expansion, but it probably would happen if El Toro doesn’t happen,” the Laguna Niguel Republican said.

It was the first time that a build-up of John Wayne has been raised by El Toro airport foes such as Bates as a viable alternative. Previously, anti-airport forces have said that future passengers should use airports outside the county.

Bates’ remarks turned up the heat under the long-simmering animosity between airport proponents such as the city of Newport Beach and South County residents who vociferously oppose the plan.

David Ellis, a consultant for the Airport Working Group in Newport Beach, which supports the El Toro airport, said in an interview later Tuesday that cramming 24 million passengers into John Wayne Airport--making it the size of Orlando International in Florida--would require bulldozing an area between Tustin and the Balboa Peninsula.

Additional, longer runways would have to be built either over the San Diego Freeway or San Joaquin Hills toll road, he said.

“The Pat Bates solution is Playa del Tustin,” Ellis said, referring to the bulldozing of Playa del Rey to accommodate a previous LAX expansion.

Los Angeles-area officials reiterated their pleas that Orange County stop sending so many airline passengers their way.

Orange County residents accounted for about 12 million of the passengers at Los Angeles International Airport last year--20% of LAX’s total--while John Wayne handled 7.5 million passengers, according to the Los Angeles Department of Airports. An additional 1 million Orange County passengers used Ontario International Airport last year, according to the Southern California Assn. of Governments.

Mayor Mike Gordon of El Segundo, which borders LAX, said he understands the concerns of South Orange County officials about building a new airport at the closed Marine Corps Air Station. He said he has made many of the same quality-of-life arguments against a proposed 50% expansion of LAX.

“The reality is that each county must shoulder its fair share of the burden,” Gordon said. “We’re already dealing with 12 million [people] from Orange County.”

Assemblyman George Nakano (D-Torrance) agreed: “You can’t just cram everything into LAX.”

The Assembly committee hearing testimony Tuesday has no authority over where to build an airport. But its involvement signaled a growing trend across Southern California for airport growth--and opposition to it--to be viewed in terms of regional needs, not just through the eyes of the local community.

The Assembly committee is expected to submit a formal report to Gov. Gray Davis on the feasibility of increasing airport capacity in Orange County. In May, it held a similar hearing in Palmdale on the future of that city’s airport, which recently approved reinstituting passenger service.

The state also must get involved in any airport plans because it probably would be called upon to approve and fund expansion of related needs, such as road widenings.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Mission Viejo Councilwoman Susan Withrow supported Bates’ proposal and insisted that Orange County’s future airport needs can be handled without building at El Toro. She said county officials backing the new airport shouldn’t “shoehorn” it into a highly urban area.

Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim) countered that South County officials undermine their legitimacy by being eager to foist passengers on other airports without considering the former Marine base--with its 4,700 acres--among the alternatives.

“The decision on what we do here should not be based on one side versus another,” said Correa, who supports transforming El Toro into Southern California’s second-largest commercial airport. “This decision will affect all of us for a very, very long time.”

Supervisor Charles V. Smith said John Wayne Airport is severely limited in size, capped at serving no more than 8.4 million passengers a year through a court-sanctioned agreement that expires in 2005.

“We cannot and should not ask any one community in our borders or outside our borders to shoulder more than their fair share,” said Smith, the board’s chairman and leader of the 3-2 board majority that has moved along El Toro planning.

Other North County officials told Assembly members that an airport at El Toro would be able to be four times larger than John Wayne--built on 2,000 acres compared with 500 acres--and would not have the same limitations and noise concerns. The closest home to John Wayne Airport is about 1,500 yards away; the nearest home to El Toro’s runways is miles away.

Another consideration is the need to move cargo from Orange County. The county now moves only 45,000 pounds of cargo--4% of its total--from John Wayne Airport. The remaining 96% of cargo is moved to LAX and Ontario by trucks.

Nearly every airport and region in Southern California is dealing with the same problem of juggling expansion and future needs with maintaining a decent quality of life, said Mark Pisano, executive director of the Southern California Assn. of Governments, a regional transportation planning agency.

“Part of a good quality of life is good, efficient, convenient transportation,” said Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly, whose city relies on tourism, which depends on quality air service. “Gridlock and two- to three-hour drives to airports would hurt our quality of life more than anything else.”