Supervisors: ‘Yes’ on El Toro Airport

After seven years of study, Orange County supervisors Tuesday voted to move forward with a hotly debated plan for an international airport at El Toro, pledging that the county would shoulder a bigger piece of the region’s air travel burden.

The board’s action officially approved an environmental review of the new airfield at the closed Marine base, required by state law. It clears the way for the federal government to turn over much of the base to the county for an airport.

The 3-2 vote came after a marathon public hearing and represents a milestone in efforts to build the new airfield.

The review found that the project would create significant pollution and sleep disturbances in areas of south Orange County--but that the airport overall would be more beneficial than harmful.

Pro-airport supervisors spoke only briefly during the seven-hour meeting.

“It’s time we had a vote on this thing,” Supervisor Chuck Smith said before moving to approve an airport to handle 18.8 million passengers yearly, and 1.2 million tons of cargo. The plan could have accommodated up to 28.8 million annual passengers.

It was the third time in two months the board had been scheduled to vote. Supervisor Jim Silva, who has regularly supported the proposal, stunned his colleagues last month by agreeing to send the plan to voters, then quickly reversing himself.

Airport foes greeted Tuesday’s vote with shrugs. Several dozen speakers had earlier urged supervisors to reject the plan, but said they assumed the board majority would pass it anyway.

Critics have long said that their best hopes to kill the airport rest either with voters or a judge. They have vowed to sue over the latest approval and hope to place a measure on the March ballot seeking to replace the airport with a large urban park.

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“We’ve been expecting this for years,” said Lake Forest Councilman Peter Herzog. “We’re just going to defeat it in March.”

Tuesday’s action means that the Navy and the Federal Aviation Administration can finish their own reviews, expected by April, for transferring the base to the county.

The approval comes as Los Angeles has pulled back from an ambitious expansion plan for LAX. Regional transportation officials have pushed for five years for El Toro to be built to relieve pressure at LAX, which handled an estimated 6 million Orange County passengers last year, according to an LAX survey.

The future of LAX was tightly linked to the fate of the new airport by dozens of LAX-area residents, who pleaded with Orange County supervisors to approve it.

More than 200 people packed the board’s hearing room to listen to 84 speakers. Dozens said they live in Inglewood, El Segundo and Westchester, the neighborhoods most affected by noise and pollution from LAX.

At times, supporters and opponents appeared to be addressing each other more than the project. Mindful of the row of cameras, supporters wore now-familiar white “El Toro YES” T-shirts while opponents were dressed in red.

Some of those against the airport told their Los Angeles County neighbors to butt out. “This is an Orange County family matter,” said Linda Finley of Laguna Niguel.

“Mayor [James] Hahn has said LAX will not expand,” Jenny Baylis of Lake Forest said. “So why are you here?”

“We’ve been carrying your burden at LAX for years and years,” answered Velma Slaughter of Inglewood.

“All of our children deserve peaceful sleep, not just yours in Orange County,” said Jane Friedken, a former El Segundo councilwoman.

Local supporters urged supervisors to honor the 1994 vote approving the airport. “This was decided years ago,” said Alan Beek of Newport Beach. “People voted to build an airport at El Toro.”

Although Tuesday’s meeting went on for hours, it wasn’t the longest involving El Toro--or the longest to consider an Orange County airport project. In 1985, a vote on plans to expand John Wayne continued past midnight.

As envisioned by Orange County officials, El Toro would become the second-largest airport in Southern California. LAX handled 67 million passengers last year, though a slump in travel after last month’s terrorist attacks has reduced volume to an estimated 45 million for this year.

John Wayne Airport served about 7.8 million passengers last year. Another 6.8 million used Ontario International Airport in San Bernardino County.

Supervisors last week agreed to allow additional public comments on the El Toro plan after having closed debate in September. Foes argued that new information had surfaced since then--chiefly a review by the Federal Aviation Administration of airspace problems at El Toro that was released earlier this month.

The FAA concluded that the county’s airfield design could be operated safely at El Toro but would erode the efficiency of Southern California’s air system. The agency warned repeatedly that planned northerly takeoffs would delay flights arriving at John Wayne, Long Beach, LAX and Ontario airports, disrupting flight schedules across Southern California.

County officials have downplayed the efficiency problems. But critics of the plan cited the FAA review Tuesday among their objections.

Michael Karn, a representative of the 11,700-member Allied Pilots Assn., made up of American Airlines pilots, said his organization faxed a letter to supervisors Tuesday declaring the county’s plan seriously flawed, in part because of its reliance on wind data collected by the Marines. Current FAA standards require a much more sophisticated analysis, he said.

“Simply stated, this plan is dangerous and unrealistically optimistic,” Karn said. He said airlines will find El Toro economically unsuitable because planes would have to fly with too light a load to clear nearby hills.

Among those most critical of the county was L. Allan Songstad Jr., chairman of a South County anti-airport coalition of nine cities.

Citing the FAA report, Songstad said airspace is so tight in Southern California that takeoffs from El Toro “would cause massive delays” for airports in the region.

“We want to know how the county intends to fix these now during the EIR process,” he said.

Other critics included South County educators, who argued that noise and pollution from jet exhaust would make it difficult for children to learn. Studies have shown that children near an airport have higher stress levels and higher blood pressure, said Crystal Kochendorfer, president of the Capistrano Unified School District board.

Charles Griffin of Newport Beach, who has proposed an alternative plan endorsed by several North County officials, chided the county for failing to acknowledge that the Marine’s equipment for testing wind at the base didn’t fall within the FAA’s current standards.

The Marines’ anemometer stood on a tripod about nine feet from the ground. Current standards call for the device to be at least 30 feet up, he said.

Griffin’s proposal, the Reasonable Airport Alternative, reverses the county’s plan for takeoffs and landings. The alternative--backed by Villa Park Councilman Bob McGowan, a former airline pilot and air-traffic controller--calls for landings from the north and departures to the south. The east-west runway would be removed.

County officials have dismissed the alternative because of potential noise generated over future homes planned by the Irvine Co. to the southwest of the runways.