El Toro Controversy Invades L.A. County

The fight over a proposed airport at El Toro has widened in recent months beyond a turf war in Orange County, with the future of the closed military base now a hot subject of debate in Los Angeles County as well.

Critics of a proposal to double the size of Los Angeles International Airport are increasingly linking their opposition to the idea that Orange County should build a commercial airport at El Toro to help meet the region’s growing demand for air service.

Until recently, the LAX expansion opposition was fairly limited to officials in the South Bay cities that surround the airport. But now, the six leading candidates in Tuesday’s election for mayor of Los Angeles oppose the LAX expansion plan, which would take the airport from 67 million passengers last year to 98 million passengers in 2015.

Moreover, key elected officials in Los Angeles County are sharply criticizing the expansion, which they say would unjustly cluster air traffic in one area instead of spreading it across Southern California.

Orange County is beginning to feel the pressure. Foes of the LAX expansion have begun speaking out at Orange County Board of Supervisors’ meetings, urging the body to move forward with plans for an airport at El Toro.

The shift in attitude could prove a boost to the pro-airport movement, which has long argued that Orange County should do its fair share to handle air traffic.

“LAX can’t, and shouldn’t, do it alone,” said Supervisor Charles Smith. “We should be looking from a truly Southern California aviation perspective, and that includes San Diego.”

Last month, a regional panel of government leaders recommended only minor growth for LAX in coming years, endorsing a capacity of 30 million passengers at an El Toro airport and the same number at Ontario International. The committee of the Southern California Assn. of Governments argued for an El Toro airfield even larger than that envisioned by Orange County planners.

On the heels of that recommendation, which will be considered Friday by the full panel, elected officials from four counties revived a joint powers authority to find a “regional approach” to airport growth.

The interim chairman of the Southern California Regional Airport Authority is Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, who is critical of the size of LAX’s planned expansion.

“A reasonable solution is out there,” Knabe said. “We owe it to the constituents of the region to at least assess the most viable options that generate the least negative impacts on our people.”

Local airport opponents have watched with dismay--and open scorn--at the political pressure for construction of an airport, particularly from outside the county. Opponents hope to scuttle the airport proposal next March in a local ballot measure that would turn the 4,700-acre base into a park.

Airport opponents advocate accommodating more passengers at John Wayne Airport and spreading growth elsewhere to Long Beach International, Ontario International and two new airports at the former George and Norton military air bases. Airport growth, they argue, should follow population growth, which is occurring fastest in the Inland Empire.

Government forecasters argue population growth is only one factor in air travel trends, which are more influenced by wealth, types of business activity and propensity to fly. Under those criteria, they have labeled Orange County a mecca for passengers and cargo, which are handled by other counties’ airports.

Plans for an El Toro airport have been fostered by a majority of the Orange County Board of Supervisors that so far has persevered despite the airport’s dwindling public support. Last month, the board approved a $5-million campaign, through June 2002, to convince voters the airport is necessary.

The board’s counterpart in Los Angeles County has reacted differently to the LAX project. That board voted to urge Mayor Richard Riordan and the Los Angeles City Council to stop promoting the plan after the council rejected a $12-million request for public-relations and engineering contracts.

Anti-expansion forces, meanwhile, have borrowed strategies from Orange County’s airport foes. Los Angeles Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, for example, proposed buying land around LAX, including about 500 homes, to be zoned for parkland instead of a cargo terminal.

And in a sign of the times, protesters at an LAX-related meeting last week in Los Angeles wore T-shirts proclaiming: “LAX Expansion No! El Toro Yes!”