Bill Links Transit Funds to El Toro Airport

A powerful Democratic assemblyman from the South Bay wants the state Legislature to approve a bill that would withhold transportation money from any Southern California county that doesn’t provide enough airport space.

The bill doesn’t mention Orange County specifically but would apply if the county doesn’t build an airport at the closed El Toro Marine base to handle nearly 30-million passengers a year by 2025. It was introduced as county voters prepare to decide Tuesday whether to scuttle plans for an airport and rezone El Toro for a large park.

Assemblyman George Nakano (D-Torrance), who also chairs the Assembly Democratic caucus, introduced the bill Feb. 21--one day before the deadline for submitting bills for this legislative session.

The threshold for El Toro passengers comes from a 25-year forecast for regional airport growth approved last year by the Southern California Assn. of Governments. John Wayne Airport was set at 8.4-million passengers a year--its current limit, which county supervisors hope to boost to 9.8 million in the next 10 years.

The SCAG plan also capped Los Angeles International Airport at 78 million, a move made after intense lobbying by Los Angeles and state representatives to shift airport growth to outlying areas. The forecast for Ontario International Airport, which handled about 6.5-million passengers last year and is owned by Los Angeles, was 30 million.

“We’re not going after Orange County, but it’s high time someone other than the residents of El Segundo, Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach bear the burden for planes flying over their heads” from LAX, said Becky Ames, Nakano’s chief of staff. “Southern California has put together a plan and it should be followed.”

If approved, the bill would cut off funds approved through the state every two years for certain transportation projects. Last year, a total of $340 million was available statewide.

This year, the Orange County Transportation Authority has asked for $18 million, including $8 million to add an auxiliary lane on the westbound Riverside Freeway, $5 million for a new Metrolink station in Yorba Linda, $3 million to expand parking at the Fullerton Metrolink station and $2 million in rail improvements in Placentia. The California Transportation Commission will vote on the request next month.

“It’s a sad commentary to mix transportation funds with the airport in a desperate act to thwart the will of the people here in Orange County,” said Susan Withrow, an OCTA board member and councilwoman in Mission Viejo, which opposes the new airport.

El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon, who pushed for the bill--designated AB2333--said the SCAG plan was approved by city and county representatives across Southern California except for two council members from south Orange County.

“It is critical that Orange County be a full player in meeting their aviation demand for Southern California,” he said. “If they don’t, there should be consequences.”

Supervisor Chuck Smith, an El Toro airport supporter and an OCTA board member, said he was briefed on the bill in his role as a member of the Southern California Regional Airport Authority. The bill allows the authority to review airports and counties for compliance with the SCAG forecasts.

Because of his multiple roles, Smith said he doesn’t support the bill--but he said he won’t oppose it either. He has long argued that Orange County should handle more of the estimated 7 million local passengers a year who use LAX or Ontario.

“The problem is that this kind of [sanction] is going to happen, and it’s going to happen at the federal level too,” Smith said. “Citizens of Orange County have to wake up that we have to do these kinds of things, like build a new airport. It’s not this, ‘I’ve got mine, so stay out of my area’ kind of thing.”

Nakano said as much in October 1999, when he attended an Assembly transportation committee hearing in Santa Ana organized by Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), who supports the new airport. “You can’t just cram everything into LAX,” Nakano said at the hearing.

The Assembly’s involvement signaled a growing trend in Southern California to view airport growth--and opposition to it--in terms of regional needs, not just through a local community.