Most Oppose Even Smaller O.C. Airport

Orange County residents remain opposed to converting the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into an international airport, even if the size of the proposal is reduced, a new public opinion poll shows.

The survey by UC Irvine and a Bay Area think tank further indicates that a clear majority of residents favor a ballot initiative next March that would bar aviation uses at the base, which closed in 1999.

“The airport remains a hard sell,” said Mark Baldasarre, director of the Public Policy Institute of California in San Francisco, which released the poll Thursday. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the original proposal or a scaled-back version. The overall opinion is negative.”

Initial plans for El Toro call for an airport with a capacity of 28.8 million passengers a year by 2020. Recently, two county supervisors said they would consider reducing the annual volume to 18.8 million.

Airport supporters downplay the poll findings, contending that an airport would provide the county with more substantial economic benefits than a vast regional park or other non-aviation uses.

“Toll roads, Interstate 5, Measure M and local power plants have been opposed in the past. Now people are happy with them,” said Supervisor Cynthia Coad, who backs the scaled-back proposal. “A park would create a lot of grass-cutting jobs, but an airport would provide high-paying career jobs for our children.”

The poll surveyed a random sample of 2,004 Orange County adults--1,500 of whom were registered voters--in late August. The El Toro survey, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 2%, is part of a broader poll related to county issues that is scheduled for public release Sept. 26.

UC Irvine collaborated in the survey, which was conducted by the Public Policy Institute, a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to objective research on social and economic matters affecting the state. It was paid for by both institutions.

The survey shows that 52% of Orange County residents oppose converting the former Marine base into an international airport.

According to the results, that opposition increases somewhat if the annual capacity for the project is reduced by 10 million passengers.

Not surprisingly, the greatest resistance is in the south part of the county, where about three-fourths of residents oppose an airport. In north Orange County, the public appears to be split.

“I’m more in favor than opposed to it. With all the population growth, we will need a new airport,” said Grace Dirling of Hunttington Beach, who was questioned for the survey. “I still need more information before making a final decision. There is so much emotion and exaggeration surrounding the issue.”

In another sign of opposition to an airport, the poll indicates that 61% of Orange County residents would vote for a March ballot measure to create a central park, open space, nature preserves, schools and other non-aviation uses at the closed base.

“It would be nice to have something other than an airport, like libraries, parks and museums,” said Cori Ornelas of Tustin, who has two children and a third on the way. “The new airport could turn into another LAX. That’s not what I moved here for.”

Baldasarre said the backing for the initiative is a signal that support for the airport might be weaker than it appears. Poll data show that about a third of those who favor the new airfield would nonetheless vote for the park ballot measure.

Baldasarre cautioned, however, that support for the measure might erode if large amounts of tax dollars were required to build the facilities. A Pacific Opinions poll released last month showed that Orange County residents would be reluctant to embrace a park if new taxes would be required to pay for it.

The UC Irvine poll further shows that almost half of Orange County residents disapprove of the way county government has handled the El Toro issue. Earlier this week, the Orange County Planning Commission approved the concept for the airport. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors is expected to sign off on an environmental impact report for the project.

The poll findings show that board members “are just thumbing their noses at their constituency,” said Meg Waters, a spokeswoman for the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, an anti-airport group. “They just won’t listen, and it’s a tragedy.”

The poll results are consistent with other public opinion surveys conducted over the last five years, including work by Chapman University in Orange and annual surveys by UC Irvine. They show that far more Orange County residents oppose an El Toro airport than support it.

Meanwhile Thursday, the Orange County Business Council released a study concluding that a new mid-size El Toro airport would create jobs, keep the county economically competitive and serve as a hedge against slowdowns in the nation’s economy.

Researchers assumed the airport would handle 18.8 million passengers a year.

The study estimated that between now and 2010, the project would create $7 billion in economic activity, about 69,000 jobs, and $450 million in annual state and local tax revenue.

“The region’s airport capacity crisis will hurt businesses across Southern California, but particularly those in Orange County,” the report states. “To remain competitive, Orange County needs an airport at El Toro.”