Plan Would Raise Capacity at John Wayne

Passenger service at John Wayne Airport would grow from 8.4 million people a year to 9.8 million through 2016, and a nighttime flight curfew would remain in place through 2026 under a plan Orange County supervisors will consider Tuesday.

The proposal, allowing limited expansion of the county’s growth-restricted airport, was pitched late this week by board Chairwoman Cynthia P. Coad and Newport Beach officials. But Supervisor Tom Wilson, whose district includes John Wayne Airport, called the plan premature.

The aim is to thwart an even greater expansion of John Wayne Airport if a new commercial airfield isn’t built as planned at the closed Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro. Current passenger and noise caps at John Wayne, set by a 1985 federal court agreement, expire Dec. 31, 2005.

Supervisors will be asked Tuesday to approve a review of the environmental effects of extending the court agreement, such as noise and traffic from the airport.

Newport Beach Councilman Gary Proctor, who helped draft the plan, said the goal is to protect not only his coastal city from a major expansion of John Wayne but also cities under the path of arriving flights, including Yorba Linda, Orange, Tustin and Santa Ana.

Environmental studies should be completed by March, he said, at the same time foes of an airport at El Toro hope voters will pass an initiative to build a large urban park instead of a commercial airport. A coalition of nine South County cities fighting the county’s plans for El Toro instead want John Wayne Airport to handle as many as 14 million passengers a year.

“All of the corridor cities [under John Wayne’s flight paths] have to be realistic that if there’s not an El Toro, it’s going to be John Wayne Airport,” Proctor said.

Other provisions include increasing the loudest daily flights allowed at the airport from 73 to 85, increasing opportunities for airlines to trade two quieter flights for each louder one, and building four additional aircraft gates at the John Wayne terminal to handle the additional passengers.

Wilson, whose district also includes the closed El Toro base, said it was too soon to launch an environmental review. He said Coad didn’t consult with him before placing the matter on Tuesday’s agenda, even though the details were discussed at a meeting with Newport Beach Councilwoman Norma Glover.

“It’s a foundation for discussion, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s premature,” he said. Coad “has really stepped over the line.”

Proctor said city and county officials believe the 1985 court agreement can be extended without going back to federal court, by written approval of the original parties: the county, the city and two citizen groups, Airport Working Group and Stop Polluting Our Newport.

An extension also would protect John Wayne Airport’s nighttime curfew for commercial jets, he said. The curfew came before a 1990 federal law that essentially banned such local restrictions, but the Board of Supervisors could vote to lift the 11 p.m. cutoff for flights after the agreement expires in 2005. If the agreement were extended, the board would not have the authority to do so until at least 2026, he said.

Barbara Lichman, an attorney and longtime official with the Airport Working Group, said her group would wait to review the plan to add more passengers and flights before giving its blessing.

Airport activist Bruce Nestande, who brokered the original airport agreement as a county supervisor in 1985, said the extension should go forward. However, he warned that it could be challenged in court by airport foes, the Federal Aviation Administration or the airlines.

“Obviously, the only comfort factor for Newport Beach and all of the airport corridor cities is building El Toro,” he said.