Local El Toro alternative gaining altitude

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT BEACH -- Charles Griffin is getting some respect.

During recent weeks, Griffin’s alternative runway plan for the closed

El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, dismissed by county planners, has been

gaining momentum.

In a June 18 letter to Griffin and his supporters, the Orange County

Regional Airport Authority, a coalition of 14 North County cities,

announced its support for formal federal review of the proposal.

“I encourage you to consult with experts . . . to ensure that your

proposal is submitted with the proper information and in the proper form

to enable a timely analysis, review and validation,” wrote Art Bloomer,

the authority’s executive director.

The letter echoed comments by a pilots group, which said in May it

would lobby the Federal Aviation Administration on behalf of Griffin’s

plan.

Under Griffin’s scenario, the cross-shaped runways at the base would

be reconfigured into a V shape. The plan is known colloquially as the

“V-plan.”

Griffin, a retired aviation engineer and Newport Beach resident, has

joined with activist Russell Niewiarowski and Villa Park Mayor Robert

McGowan to form The New Millennium Group to promote the plan.

The group, which is in the process of becoming a political action

committee, has announced plans to circulate a petition that would put the

plan, officially known as the Wildlands Ranch Alternative, to a public

vote in March.

“They want to know more,” Niewiarowski said about the letter. “They

want to move forward. I take it as a positive.”

The county analyzed the V-plan in its environmental review of the

airport, which is proposed to handle 28.8 million passengers. The FAA

has refused to review the V-plan because it has not been endorsed by the

county.

In his letter, Bloomer said Gary Simon, the director of the Local

Redevelopment Authority, also supports federal review of the plan.

Niewiarowski said Simon suggested the group take the V-plan to voters.

Simon, who was on vacation, could not be reached for comment.

The plan was rejected by the county because it forces more flights

over homes in the community of Newport Coast, as well as land in

southwest Irvine set to be developed into housing by the Irvine Co.

Also, fewer planes would be able to land under present operating

conditions, a county El Toro planner Bryan Speegle said.

“We feel it should be reviewed,” Speegle said. “We feel that it is

feasible. . . . [But] it has a lower capacity and higher impacts.”

Newport Beach officials have been reluctant to buy off on Griffin’s

plan, saying it would delay the hand-over of the base from the Navy to

the county, jeopardizing the project.

Newport Beach Councilman Dennis O’Neil said he shares those concerns

with colleague Gary Proctor.

“It would just shift the impact [of an airport] to a whole new

constituency,” O’Neil said.