Board Subs Airport Backer for Foe on Land Use Panel

Orange County supervisors pushing for a commercial airport at the shuttered El Toro Marine base ousted an opponent from a key land use panel, one of several moves Tuesday designed to boost pro-airport momentum.

Tom Naughton, chairman of the Airport Working Group and an ardent El Toro supporter, was appointed to the Airport Land Use Commission, an otherwise obscure commission that reviews what is built around airports. He replaces Charles Zoffer, a Laguna Woods resident who opposes county plans for an airport at the retired Marine base.

While the decision only further cleanses the commission of airport foes, it was seen as an act of unnecessary aggression by airport opponents, who are now left with only one voice on the seven-member land use panel.

In similar fashion, the board majority also selected Supervisor Cynthia P. Coad as chairwoman and Supervisor Jim Silva as vice chairman--both staunch airport supporters. Supervisor Tom Wilson, an opponent of an El Toro airport, had been vice chairman.

The moves reveals a hardening of the board’s resolve to see the old Marine base turned into Southern California’s second-largest airport.

This is a critical period in the El Toro fight. The board is expected to approve a final airport plan in September and has promised its lobbyists a hefty bonus if the government turns the Marine base over to the county by March 2002--the same date airport opponents hope to put an anti-airport measure on the ballot.

The Airport Land Use Commission has an important role in the project’s advancement. It has continued to restrict development around the 4,700-acre El Toro site--limits designed to protect the area from jet crashes and noise. Development near the base would hamper the airport effort.

The cities of Lake Forest and Irvine sued the panel last year, arguing that with the military gone, building should be allowed. Zoffer had favored considering such development.

El Toro airport opponents viewed Naughton’s appointment as a display of hostility against South County.

“At least they’re being honest now about the fact they have no interest in working with the affected constituencies,” said Meg Waters, spokeswoman for the nine-city El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, which wants a park, homes and businesses built at the base.

“They’re getting desperate,” said Supervisor Wilson.

Airport supporters said the three pro-airport supervisors are sending a clear signal that they’re back in charge and feel buoyed by a judge’s decision in December to toss out a voter-approved anti-airport measure. Though some airport opponents had been invited to participate in planning meetings, that backfired after they continued to work against the plan.

The last straw, some observers said, was the posting of notes on the Internet from an El Toro meeting with White House officials that was chronicled by a Wilson staff member.

“The lines are hardening because people are feeling a sense of betrayal,” said Stan Oftelie, executive director of the Orange County Business Council, which supports an El Toro airport. “[Pro-airport forces] were genuinely reaching out and trying to work cooperatively and they got slapped back hard. A lot of that good will evaporated.”

Zoffer said he’s disappointed by the board’s decision. He served on the land-use commission for 18 months. Supervisors have two appointments on the seven-member panel; their other appointment is Denny Harris, who also opposes an El Toro airport.

“These supervisors or any elected officials are supposed to represent the people of that geographical area and we’re not seeing that there,” Zoffer said. “Forget about El Toro, these three supervisors aren’t listening to the people of Orange County anywhere.”

In another El Toro development, the Federal Aviation Administration will resume testing of the proposed takeoff and landing patterns today. A private jet will test flight paths using a global positioning satellite navigation system.