Settlements Nearly End El Toro Fight

Some of the last remaining legal battles over the reuse of the closed El Toro Marine Corps base were settled Thursday, marking another step toward a formal end to one of the most contentious issues in Orange County history.

Groups that favored turning the 4,700-acre base into a commercial airport settled three lawsuits they had filed in challenging anti-airport plans. The lawsuits posed little threat to current plans by Irvine to turn the base into a complex of parks, homes and businesses known as the Great Park.

Irvine annexed the base in November. The Navy plans to auction the property this year.

The settlements announced Thursday involved several anti- and pro-airport groups and individuals. The anti-airport parties included Irvine and the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, a coalition of south Orange County cities. Pro-airport groups included the Airport Working Group and the Orange County Regional Airport Authority.

One of the settlements ended a challenge to Measure W, the 2002 initiative approved by voters that zoned most of El Toro for parks and open space.

Two other lawsuits by the Airport Working Group are still pending: its challenge to Irvine’s annexation of the base and one concerning the Great Park’s environmental impact report.