Supervisors Set Workshop for Deciding Airport’s Fate

Members of the public are invited to attend the Board of Supervisors’ May 3 workshop to discuss uses for the former El Toro Marine base but will not be allowed to speak during the workshop, county officials said Friday.

County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier said supervisors will not vote on a strategy for El Toro until the conclusion of a separate public hearing, scheduled for 4 p.m. May 16.

“There’s going to be ample opportunity for public input,” Mittermeier said. “In fact, we’re encouraging groups and individuals to give their thoughts before and during the public hearing.”

The May 3 workshop, scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon, is a prelude to the May 16 public hearing. The session will be held in the board hearing room at the Hall of Administration in Santa Ana.

On May 3, county staff members will present the history of the project, then outline three options: continue planning for an airport at El Toro, abandon plans for an airport while pursuing nonaviation uses or disband as the planning authority in charge of designing new uses for the base.

“We want to give the board a good, clear picture of what their options are. This is a study session,” Mittermeier said.

Neither she nor her staff plan to make recommendations. “This is a policy decision for the board,” she said.

During the workshop, county officials will also discuss the obligations of Measure A, the 1994 initiative passed by voters which supported plans to build an airport at El Toro, and the ramifications of Measure F, which voters overwhelmingly approved last month. Measure F requires approval from two-thirds of voters before airports, jails and toxic waste dumps can be built in the county.

Supervisors must also decide whether to continue supporting a golf course, horse stables and child care facilities at the base, operations the county assumed last summer as part of an interim lease with the Navy.

County staff members anticipate a vote by supervisors at the conclusion of the May 16 public hearing. If supervisors decide to jettison current operations, “the Navy needs to have that decision quickly,” a staff said.