NEWS - May 2004
Today's
Headlines - click on date for story
El Toro Info Site report, May 30, 2004
JWA - Much gain for
not much pain
OC Register, May 28, 2004
"Expert
offers design options for Great Park"
El Toro Info Site report, May 28, 2004 - updated
2005
El Toro Info Site report, May 27, 2004
Airports getting
busy
LA Times editorial, May 26, 2004
"A Breakthrough LAX
Plan"
El Toro Info Site report, May 25, 2004
Phased sale of El
Toro is on as reported
El Toro Info Site report, May 25, 2004
Great Park Symposium
El Toro Info Site report, May 25, 2004
Litigation update
El Toro Info Site report, May 24, 2004
Heritage Fields
sale announcement made and recalled
El Toro Info Site report, May 24, 2004
John Wayne Airport
passenger levels rise
San
Diego Union-Tribune, May 17, 2004
"Pendleton nixes idea
of El Toro housing"
El Toro Info Site report, May 15, 2004
ALUC continues the
nonsense
LA Times, May 15, 2004
Readers respond
LA Times, May 14, 2004
"Temporary
Solution: 3 Gates Opening Today at John Wayne"
El Toro Info Site report, May 13, 2004
AWG and LAFCO in
court today
Daily Pilot, May 12, 2004
"Selling JWA to
increase Orange County coffers"
Associated Press, May 11, 2004
"Ackerman takes
charge as GOP leader in Senate"
Daily Pilot, May 8, 2004 posted May 9
"Supervisor
suggests possible JWA sale"
"County official's
proposal to explore selling the airport to cover debt breathes life
into Newport's hope of controlling its operation."
OC Register, May 8, 2004
"Supervisor urges
selling O.C. airport"
OC Register, May 7, 2004
"Newport Beach
seeks partial control of JWA"
OC Register, May 7, 2004
"O.C. military bases on the safe side"
LA Times, May 6, 2004
"Ports, Airports
Need Upgrades, Report Warns"
Daily Pilot, May 6, 2004
"City growth
talk of chamber"
El Toro Info Site report, May 5, 2004
Progress on El Toro
sale
OC Register, May 5, 2004
"JWA soon to open
temporary terminal"
Caltradereport.com, May 1-15, 2004
Maglev an Option
for Southern California
El Toro Info Site report, May 1, 2004
Irvine responds to
cleanup questions
Click here for
previous news stories
El Toro Info Site report, May 30, 2004
JWA - Much gain for
not much pain
The John Wayne Airport Noise Abatement Program Quarterly Report has
just arrived for the period ending March 31, 2004. With passenger
traffic up 13.8 percent over the same three months in 2003 there has
been relatively little increase in noise experienced by the airport
neighbors.
For one thing, the large increase in the number of passengers served
came with only a 5.6 percent increase in the number of commercial
flights.
The numerical average of the CNEL readings for the ten noise monitoring
stations around the airport rose from 60.9 dB to 61.4 dB. The loudest
CNEL readings during both periods were recorded at monitoring station
8N in the airport approach corridor at 17372 Eastman Street in Irvine.
Telephone noise complaints (279) were widely scattered geographically
and were down by 26.9 percent with the largest number coming from
Laguna Beach (27) and Anaheim Hills (23) with Balboa peninsular (18)
third in frequency.
OC
Register, May 28, 2004
"Expert
offers design options for Great Park"
"Architect
presents concepts at first in series of forums to help planners decide
the form and function of ex-base area."
"Before any work can begin on the proposed Great Park, some great
design decisions must be made."
"Chapman University architect Hamid Shirvani, who outlined a range of concept options
Thursday evening at the inaugural of a series of community forums
designed to help planners decide the form and function of the park . .
. About 200 people attended the presentation."
"Meanwhile, the Navy said it now plans to sell off the old base lands
in a series of auctions rather than all at once, as originally planned.
The first area to be auctioned will be a 200-acre parcel in the
southernmost section of the base. It could be sold as early as
November."
"The land has been farmed for decades, kept free of development,
because it was so close to a base runway. As envisioned in the plan,
the land will be used to expand an auto mall and develop a 1.6-million-
square-foot industrial or research and development complex."
"The decision to auction the land sequentially rather than as one will
probably push the final disposition of the base land into early 2006."
See news item below.
"However, the Navy and city of Irvine said the revised process will
allow the federal government to get more work done on remediating
solvent plumes and other environmental problems on the base; the delay
will also give the city time to resolve a remaining lawsuit challenging
the Great Park."
El Toro
Info Site report, May 28, 2004 - updated
2005
An email newsletter from Supervisor Bill Campbell, whose district
includes El Toro, says, "The property will be sold in four phases that
match the four parcels. The first parcel to be sold is known as Parcel
4, which is about 200 acres located in the southern most end of the
base. The planned sale should occur before the end of the year. The
other parcels will be sold in 2005."
This is the first we have seen any official write that the sale
will drag into 2005. Close of escrow and finalization of the transfer
will take additional time.
In February 2003, the City of Irvine, General
Services Administration, and Department of Navy issued a joint statement that the
"GSA's auction should be completed" by the Fall/Winter of 2003 with
"Development agreements to be completed with private landowners" in
"Spring 2004."
Click
here for a map of the four parcels overlayed onto an aerial view of
the
base.
El
Toro Info Site report, May 27, 2004
Airports getting
busy
John Wayne is not the
only airport in the region seeing a surge in traffic this year.
The Daily Breeze reports "Paralleling a national trend, travel through
LAX has been climbing steadily since last year. It surged nearly 19
percent last month over April 2003 levels, an increase that is believed
to be the largest of its kind in the airport's history. For the
entire summer, LAX officials predict a 12 percent increase in travel
and a 10 percent jump for all of 2004, boosting the year-end total to
about 60 million passengers, or roughly the 1998 level."
The San Diego airport authority's president and chief executive
officer, "said the airport continues to rebound from a post-9/11 slump,
with a 7.4 percent increase in traffic so far this year. She predicted
yesterday, for the first time, that the airport passenger count for
2004 will exceed the record 15.8 million set in 2000."
In Long Beach "The city's noise consultant [forecast] that 4.2 million
passengers annually will use the airport if the current 41 daily
commercial flights continue and another 25 regional flight slots that
now sit unused are filled."
Click here for the full stories.
LA Times
editorial, May 26, 2004
"A Breakthrough LAX
Plan"
"Nine years and $126 million after the city started planning a remodel,
efforts to modernize Los Angeles International Airport remain as
gridlocked as the passenger drop-off lane on a holiday weekend. Elected
officials, the business community and those doomed to spend this and
future Memorial Days stuck in airport snarls should jump at City
Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski's bid to break the impasse."
"Her 'consensus plan,' unveiled at a public hearing Tuesday, divides
Mayor James K. Hahn's contentious $9-billion LAX remake into two
phases, with the more controversial elements to be built later — if at
all."
"The revised plan would green-light the Hahn projects that many nearby
residents, the business community and most airlines agree are good
ideas, such as a consolidated rental car center, additional express
buses, a transit hub that links the Metro Green Line to the airport,
and much-needed safety improvements to the south runways. It would
postpone the demolition of parking structures in the central terminal
area and the construction of a new terminal complex and a remote
passenger check-in center until further studies confirmed they were
needed and would increase security as promised."
More . . .
El Toro
Info Site report, May 25, 2004
Phased sale of El
Toro is on as reported
The phased sale of the property is on, as reported here yesterday. The
recall of the Navy press release was for minor editing and not for
substantive changes.
The Navy has not announced a timetable for the sale. Our best available
estimate is that the Invitations for Bid on Parcel 4 will be out in
August, or possibly September, with bidding to begin a month later.
Sale of the other parcels will follow.
The change, from a sale of the entire property in one auction to a
phased sale of the four parcels, will necessitate some administrative
changes in Irvine plans. However, a city official expressed
satisfaction that the sale process is moving along. Planning for
the Great Park continues. See item below.
El Toro
Info Site report, May 25, 2004
Great Park Symposium
On Thursday, May 27, at 7 to 8:30 p.m. the first "Great Park Symposium"
will be conducted at Irvine City Hall, Council Chambers, One Civic
Center Plaza in Irvine. Admission is free of charge and the
public is invited to participate.
Dr. Hamid Shirvani, an internationally renowned scholar in the field of
architecture, urban design and planning will discuss and give examples
of the design of great parks throughout the world.
For more information about the Great Park and this event, go to http://greatpark.ci.irvine.ca.us/
El
Toro Info Site report, May 25, 2004
Litigation update
The AWG lawsuit challenging LAFCO's approval of the Irvine annexation has been moved to San
Diego County.
The AWG lawsuit against the City of Irvine's Great Park Environmental
Impact Report will be back in court on June 11 when Judge Jamison will
receive oral arguments in support of the written responses that he previously
requested.
El Toro
Info Site report, May 24, 2004
Heritage Fields
sale announcement made and recalled
The following message was received late this afternoon and followed
within two hours by an email recalling it without explanation.
"Greetings from the Heritage Fields
Bidder Center!
Below, please find the text of a press release just approved by the
U.S. Department of the Navy, concerning the planned sale of the former
MCAS EL Toro property."
"Over the past year, the Department of
the Navy and the City of Irvine have been completing necessary
environmental documentation to support Navy's sale of MCAS El Toro and
the City's land use plan. The Navy is now ready to proceed with a
phased sale for MCAS El Toro, enabling redevelopment to commence as
soon as possible."
"The property will be sold in four phases that match the four parcels.
The first parcel to be sold is known as Parcel 4, which is about 200
acres located in the southern most end of the base. The remaining three
phases will be offered during the escrow period of the previous phase."
Website Editor: A phased sale of the El Toro base property has been
under discussion for months. The original plan for disposition of El
Toro, favored by the City of Irvine, called for the entire base to be
sold at one time. However, a variety of environmental issues have
delayed the process.
Parcel 4 is the first to pass all environmental clearances and receive
a Finding of
Suitability for Transfer (FOST).
Parcel 4 does not include any part of the
runways. A Runway Demolition Party will have to wait a while
longer. However, it is encouraging to see the sale and non-aviation
reuse process moving forward.
Stay tuned to this website as we gather more information about the sale
announcement.
El Toro
Info Site report, May 24, 2004
John Wayne Airport
passenger levels rise
John Wayne Airport reports, "Passenger levels increased again in April
with an additional 100,000 travelers coming through Airport gates. The
April 2004 passenger total of 766,924 is a 16.1% increase over the
April 2003 total of 660,392."
San Diego Union-Tribune, May
17, 2004
"Pendleton nixes idea
of El Toro housing"
"An
Orange County congressman and a small private group want Marine
families unable
to get housing at Camp Pendleton to live instead at the former Marine
Corps Air
Station El Toro."
"They
argue that the families of lower-ranking Marines are hard-pressed to
make ends
meet living off-base because of a waiting list for military housing,
and that
they could use the dwellings at El Toro, which was closed in 1999 after
being
declared surplus."
"'We are in the process of fixing up Pendleton,' said Lt. Col. Kathleen
Murney, director of family housing for the base. 'Why would we
want to spend money on El Toro?'"
Click
here to read the entire story.
El Toro
Info Site report, May 15, 2004
ALUC continues the
nonsense
The Airport Land Use Commission will meet on May 20 and is expected to
turn down another residential development because of proximity to El
Toro Airport.
Agenda item 1 reviews a residential development in the City of Irvine
located between the 133 Toll Road and Sand Canyon and bounded by
Trabuco Road and Potola Parkway. The ALUC staff report, just received,
says "the residential project would establish incompatible land uses
adjacent to MCAS El Toro and therefore is inconsistent with the 1995
MCAS El Toro AELUP (Airport Environs Land Use Plan)."
The majority on the ALUC refuses to discuss updating the 1995 plan.
The ALUC staff, County employees working at John
Wayne Airport, reports
"The project is located entirely within the 70 dB CNEL Contour line,
for MCAS El Toro." Staff also finds that the northern half of the
project lies
within the crash zone for Runways 34L and 34R.
This is your government at work.
See article below for applicable advice.
LA
Times, May 15, 2004
Readers respond
Reader Douglas Blaul takes on prolific letter writer Donald Nyre of the
AWG. Rebuting a Nyre letter that atempted to rally support for El
Toro in the Time's Burbank local coverage area, Blaul says "Writer [Donald] was
speaking for a small minority." He calls AWG arguments "violations,
lies, distortions, and misrepresentations used by self-serving special
interests." No mincing of words there, Doug!
He concludes with this advice to Burbank. "… If you do not elect
officials who will defend your vision for your communities, carefully
scrutinize their actions, and fight every step of the way if needed,
then you could fall victim to the same type manipulation and
shenanigans that nearly befell us."
LA
Times, May 14, 2004
"Temporary
Solution: 3 Gates Opening Today at John Wayne"
"One of two temporary buildings will open today at John Wayne Airport
to help serve travelers and airlines until six new gates can be added
to the main terminal. The modular structure, which has three
passenger gates, is on the north side of the airport near the main
terminal. Travelers will be able to reach the facility after
clearing security checks."
"Airport officials say the other temporary building will be on the
south end of the terminal and is expected to be completed by
Thanksgiving."
"The two prefabricated structures, which cost a total of $1.1 million,
will remain in place until the six permanent gates can be installed
over the next three to five years."
"The airport is authorized . . . to accommodate 10.3 million passengers
a year until 2011, when the cap increases to 10.8 million. The limits
were established last January, two years before a 1985 court settlement
that set noise limits and growth restrictions was scheduled to expire."
"The updated agreement, which expires in 2015, canceled the original
cap of 8.4 million passengers but maintained the noise limits."
El Toro
Info Site report, May 13, 2004 - updated
AWG and LAFCO in
court today
Judge C. Robert Jameson's calendar shows a 1:30 PM hearing on the
Airport Working Group's lawsuit to undo LAFCO's El Toro annexation. In
January, the LAFCO approved the annexation of El Toro into the City of
Irvine. AWG
filed suit in February.
The AWG has requested a transfer to another judge. Judge Jameson
recently issued an order in another AWG case with similar issues
that
appeared to go against the Newport Beach group.
AWG
seemingly wants to try its luck with a different judge. The case will
be transferred to a court in another county.
Daily
Pilot, Readers Respond, May 12, 2004
"Selling JWA to
increase Orange County coffers"
The diverse views of Donald Nyre, Rex Ricks, and website editor Len
Kranser on this topic show up in today's letters to the Daily Pilot.
I detect some buzz about the prospects of Los Angeles World Airports
stepping forward as the bidder that Supervisor Chuck Smith seeks for
John Wayne Airport. After paying off bonds used for the purchase with
JWA revenue, LAWA could tap surplus JWA funds to cover costs at LAX,
ONT and potentially Palmdale. We recall how Smith tapped JWA to cover
the costs of planning and promoting El Toro.
Los Angeles owners would maximize the utilization of John Wayne, not a
happy prospect for some of our Orange County neighbors and not at all
what Newport Beach hopes to see happen. Los Angeles control of an
airport in this county is not something we would support.
The challenge, as Smith notes, is how to get the dollars from the sale
into the Orange County General Fund in the face of federal law. Perhaps
the Los Angeles congressional delegation would try to tack a rider onto
a bill in Congress to make it happen. Last year, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Palos Verdes) sought an
"amendment to an aviation funding bill that would have called on
regions to 'share the burdens and benefits of air transportation.'" She
strongly supports "efforts to limit growth at Los Angeles International
Airport by promoting a regional aviation plan."
Comments? Join the discussion.
Associated
Press, May 11, 2004
"Ackerman takes
charge as GOP leader in Senate"
California "Senate Republicans picked a soft-spoken conservative from
Orange County as their leader yesterday as term limits led to another
change in command at the Capitol."
"The Senate's 14 Republicans unanimously elected Sen. Dick Ackerman,
R-Fullerton, as the minority leader to succeed Sen. Jim Brulte,
R-Rancho Cucamonga."
"Ackerman said his priorities this year were to get a state budget
adopted on time (a rarity because of the two-thirds majorities needed
to approve budgets), to make California more business friendly and to
develop a long-term financing plan for local governments"
Website Editor: Ackerman resisted
Sacramento becoming involved in the El Toro reuse debate, which he saw
as a local issue, and eventually sided
against aviation reuse of the
former base.
Daily
Pilot, May 8, 2004 posted May 9
"Supervisor
suggests possible JWA sale"
"County official's
proposal to explore selling the airport to cover debt breathes life
into Newport's hope of controlling its operation."
"NEWPORT BEACH — Just as city officials declared defeat in their dream
of taking over John Wayne Airport, County Supervisor Charles Smith has
asked staff to examine the feasibility of selling the airport to help
pay down county debt."
"City leaders have been talking with Newport's own county
representatives, Jim Silva and Tom Wilson, in hopes of possibly taking
control of the airport. The supervisors' — especially Wilson's —
resistance to the idea prompted city officials basically to abandon
hope of taking over the airport and instead look for other ways to play
a role in airport operations."
"'This wasn't specifically pointed toward Newport Beach, but Newport
Beach did trigger it,' Smith said. 'What I asked is that staff to tell
us what the advantages and disadvantages were and explore the
possibility of putting John Wayne Airport on the market for sale to
Newport Beach, [the Orange County Transportation Authority] or whatever
agency and for the funds generated to go toward debt defeasance for the
county.'"
Website Editor: No mention is made of Los Angeles World Airports as a
potential buyer. In 1967, Los Angeles purchased Ontario Airport in San
Bernardino County.
"But the legal hurdles are huge. Under federal law, revenues collected
by airports can't go to county or city general funds. Strict rules say
they can only be used for specific airport- and aviation-related
expenditures. Though that's exactly the legal area that county staff
will explore, Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau said that
preliminary research by the city suggests the law will serve as a
dead-end."
More . . .
OC
Register, May 8, 2004
"Supervisor urges
selling O.C. airport"
"Orange County should explore divesting itself of John Wayne Airport
and use the revenue to pay bankruptcy debts, Supervisor Chuck Smith
suggested Friday."
"Alan Murphy, John Wayne's Airport's manager, could not estimate the
value of the 501-acre airfield and said 'it's the first I've heard' of
Smith's notion."
"Murphy, CEO Jim Ruth and County Counsel Ben de Mayo will check with
the Federal Aviation Administration and others on Smith's proposal."
"The airport contributes no money to the county general fund, despite
100,000 commercial and charter flights last year and 8.5 million
passengers. Airport revenue must be used exclusively to support
aviation, by federal law, keeping John Wayne Airport operations
separate from other county functions."
"Smith suggested that the county approach the Orange County
Transportation Authority, which offered to buy John Wayne Airport six
months after the bankruptcy, when it was valued at $225 million."
"The city of Newport Beach or a private company might also be
interested, Smith said."
"'I'd line up with Newport Beach, on anything we could do to help
them,' [Supervisor Jim] Silva said. Newport Beach needs control over
keeping flight curfews and passenger limits in place and needs to have
a say in expansion plans, Silva said."
"Supervisor Tom Wilson said he believes the county should keep the
airport. 'We're a regional government, and we're in a better position
to manage a regional airport,' he said. 'Others might act selfishly and
not in the best interests of the whole community.'"
Click for more of the article.
Click for the LA Times coverage of this
story.
Website Editor: Purchase of the
airport by Newport Beach or parties allied to that city would tighten
control over utilization of the airport and increase whatever fading
pressure remains for converting El Toro to commercial aviation.
On the other hand, an offer from Los
Angeles World Airports to purchase or rent the airport could facilitate
LA's desire to shift air traffic to Orange County. Smith supported a proposed LA takeover of
El Toro as part of a regional airport plan. Renting of John Wayne
to Los Angeles might provide revenue to Orange County while
sidestepping some of the legal issues that complicate an outright sale.
Post your comments.
OC
Register, May 7, 2004
"Newport Beach
seeks partial control of JWA"
"Newport Beach has ended its quest to control John Wayne Airport and is
seeking a 'partnership' with the county in managing the regional
airport, Mayor Tod
Ridgeway said Thursday in a state of the city speech."
"Sharing responsibility for John Wayne's operation would help the city
get 'veto' power to stop expansion of the airport when a flight cap
agreement expires in 2015 and a flight curfew ends in 2020, he said."
"The city began seeking control of the airport in November, but county
officials have shown no interest in handing over the airport."
"As for the partnership, county Supervisors Tom Wilson and Chuck Smith
said they have not taken a stance on the concept because the city has
not yet presented a detailed proposal." More . . .
OC
Register, May 7, 2004
"O.C. military
bases on the safe side"
"Local officials
confident 2005 cuts won't affect Joint Forces Training Base. The Naval
Weapons Station also seems secure."
"The Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos will be scrutinized and
its future charted in the next year as a federal commission trims the
U.S. military. Officials in Los Alamitos and the neighboring cities of
Cypress, Garden Grove and Seal Beach, meanwhile, are not focused on the
possibility that the base could be closed, citing its myriad community
ties and military missions.
Local officials point to the fact that the Joint Forces Training Base
is the only military airfield in Orange and Los Angeles counties and
serves as the staging area for disaster response - like last year's
wildfires - in Southern California. They say they can't imagine the
military closing it."
"The nearby Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach is potentially more
secure. Its coastal location and mission of loading, storing and
maintaining weapons carried by Navy warships seem to cement its future.
The nearest base with similar capabilities is 50 miles from the
Canadian border, on Indian Island, Wash." More . . .
Website Editor: Nevertheless,
proponents of an airport at El Toro were able to whip up support for
the El Toro project amongst neighbors of the Los Alamitos airbase and
the Weapons Station. North County residents feared that these military
bases in their back yards might become the site of a commercial airport
if El Toro was not built.
LA Times,
May 6, 2004
"Ports, Airports
Need Upgrades, Report Warns"
"Record levels of international trade through Southern California's
ports and airports will create a transportation bottleneck by 2006
unless significant improvements are made, according to a study released
Wednesday by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp."
Click here for the Times article.
Website Editor: The LAEDC press release quotes Steve Erie, Professor of Political Science
and Director of the Urban Studies and Planning Program at UC San Diego
and author of Globalizing
L.A. "Southern California-as elsewhere-faces
daunting challenges, pitting the forces of globalization and the
economy against community and environmental resistance. Globalizing L.A. offers in-depth
analyses of recent epic battles over key infrastructure projects, such
as the expansion of LAX, creating a new international airport in Orange
County at El Toro and building the landmark Alameda Corridor rail
link."
The Los Angeles business group's
position on Mayor Hahn's airport proposal is "The region must not cap
its future with a 'No Growth' plan for LAX" but also needs an
international airport at El Toro.
Daily
Pilot, May 6, 2004
"City growth
talk of chamber"
"Newport Beach
mayor will give state of city address at the group's annual meeting
today."
"Local business leaders will hear from Newport Beach Mayor Tod Ridgeway
today about how the city has grown and changed, mostly for the better.
Ridgeway will deliver a state of the city address at the annual meeting
of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce this morning at the Newport
Beach Radisson Hotel."
"The speech also will touch on a recent priority for the city — sphere
issues. Newport Beach officials are looking at
increasing the city's say in controlling Orange County-owned facilities
including the Coyote Canyon landfill and John Wayne Airport."
"'We've really now evolved to [where] we want to have a proprietary
role, that is, a co-ownership with the county that allows us to have
some degree of control over the footprint, land use and air issues out
[at John Wayne Airport],' Ridgeway said."
Click for more . . .
El Toro
Info Site report, May 5, 2004
Progress on El Toro
sale
The Department of the Navy has issued Public Notice of Findings of
Suitability to Transfer (FOST) for portions of the El Toro property.
Legally required Public Notice appeared in the Los Angeles Times on May
2 and public comments will be accepted until June 17. After
consideration of public comments, Invitation for Bids (IFB) will be
released, possibly in July.
The auction is expected to commence in the fall, 60-75 days after
release of the IFBs.
The legal notice also includes a required invitation from the
California Department of Toxic Substances for comment on a Proposed
Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action Complete
Determination and RCRA Facility Boundary Modification.
Getting to this point has required many months of technical work and
negotiations involving the Navy, City of Irvine, and the State of
California. "The Draft Final FOST concludes that property specifically
identified in that document is environmentally suitable for transfer in
accordance with . . . the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act," CERCLA.
We are awaiting information as to just how much of the property is
cleaned and suitable for sale, (Finding of Suitability for Sale, FOSS)
and how much will be leased pending completion of environmental
remediation (Finding of Suitability of Lease, FOSL).
OC
Register, May 5, 2004 - updated
"JWA soon to open
temporary terminal"
"Three temporary new
gates at John Wayne Airport are ready to go."
"Come May 14, the first passengers will use the new gates, 14 A, B and
C, which will help alleviate crowding until a permanent addition can be
constructed. Later this year, another trio of temporary gates will be
installed at the other end of the airport - the south terminal – and be
called 1A, 1B and 1C."
"John Wayne Airport passenger traffic has been rising rapidly -
first-quarter traffic was almost 14 percent ahead of the comparable
period last year. Last year, 8.5 million passengers used John Wayne.
Under terms of a court settlement, the airport may expand to 10.3
million annual passengers until 2011, when traffic can expand to 10.8
million."
"The airport also is adding four new passenger security aisles - two
each in the north and south terminals. These will be ready by next
month and should speed passenger security processing."
The Wall Street Journal, in a related
article
"Airports Brace for Delays As Travel Rebounds " says airlines
and federal security officials have identified 25 airports most at risk
for lengthy security-screening delays this summer. The report lists LAX
and John Wayne and notes that "At John Wayne Airport in Orange County,
Calif., passengers are already being advised to get to the airport more
than 2½ hours early during peak hours of 6 a.m. to 10 a.m."
Caltradereport.com,
May 1-15, 2004
Maglev an Option
for Southern California
"The Los Angeles Times reports that the
backers of two multibillion-dollar, high-speed rail projects are
throwing their support behind a plan crafted by the California
High-Speed Rail Authority to bring its San Francisco-to-San Diego
maglev rail line through Los Angeles."
"At the same time, the Southern California Association of Governments
(SCAG) hopes for a magnetic-levitation system that would criss-cross
Southern California."
"The California High-Speed Rail Authority recently held a public
hearing today in Los Angeles on its draft environmental report. The $37
billion project calls for running electric trains at 200 mph between
Northern and Southern California, connecting its major cities and
airports."
"The trains would carry an estimated 32 million passengers annually by
2020. For $59 one way, travelers could go between Los Angeles' Union
Station and San Francisco in about three hours. A trip between Palmdale
and downtown LA would take about a half-hour." Click for more . . .
Website Editor: 32 MAP in 2020 is
roughly a quarter of SCAG's projection for regional air travel demand
and exceeds the combined capacity planned by SCAG for several new
airports. Construction of the rail line could dramatically change
aviation demand in the state.
El Toro
Info Site report, May 1, 2004
Irvine responds to
cleanup questions
Judge C. Robert Jameson's Minute Order is seen as supporting Irvine's
motion to dismiss the Airport Working Group's lawsuit against the Great
Park EIR. Before finalizing his ruling, the judge requested certain additional information
regarding the Navy's commitment to clean the property.
Today, we post the City of Irvine's response to the Court,
which details the Navy's legal commitment.
It is noteworthy that the Airport Working Group, in a separate
settlement of litigation with the Navy, acknowledged the legally
binding nature of the Navy's cleanup responsibility.
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