No Solution to Airport’s Blight, Foes Say

A new airport planned at the closed El Toro Marine base will create noise, traffic and pollution problems that cannot be mitigated, belying county officials’ promises that it would be a good neighbor, airport foes said.

“If an airport is built at El Toro, it will not be a community-friendly airport,” said Mission Viejo Councilwoman Susan Withrow, who chairs the anti-airport El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, which analyzed environmental documents prepared for the proposed airport.

The group has been analyzing 10,000 pages of studies released last month by county officials, who will accept public comments on its conclusions through Feb. 22.

The authority held a public hearing in Aliso Viejo on Tuesday night to allow public comment. A meeting sponsored by the county will be held today at 5:30 p.m. at the county Hall of Administration.

Among the issues raised Tuesday by airport foes:

* Airline passenger demand figures for future travel are unrealistic. County airport consultants say demand will double in Southern California in the next 20 years and that an airport at El Toro is critical to help absorb it. Critics say that the county’s population will rise a modest 7% and that the airport simply isn’t needed when there are others in the region.

* The economic numbers don’t add up. Airport foes say the county failed to compare its projections with an alternative for the 4,700-acre base that would have residential and commercial development as well as a park. Authority officials said the airport will produce lower-paying jobs for workers, who won’t be able to afford to live in Orange County, further exacerbating the imbalance between jobs and affordable housing.

* Airport noise will be significant for at least 1,800 dwellings near the airport. County consultants claim there will be no homes or schools within a high-noise zone, where building is restricted under state and federal law. But jet engine noise still will disturb people outside the zone, particularly at night during the airport’s around-the-clock operations, critics said.

* The county’s review relies on a method of computing vehicle traffic that lowers estimates. County officials disagree. The county’s prediction that mitigation of additional freeway traffic won’t be needed is “completely unrealistic,” says anti-airport spokeswoman Meg Waters.