NEWS - July 2004     

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El Toro Info Site report, July 31, 2004
John Wayne Airport June travel at an all time

John Wayne Airport saw a record 823,290 passenger come through the Airport last month, an increase of 10.5% when compared to June 2003’s passenger traffic count of 745,140.

“Summer is always our busiest time of the year,” said John Wayne Airport Director Alan Murphy. “June is just the beginning, as we expect July and August to even be busier as travelers continue to getaway for their summer vacations.”

Increased passenger levels are a product of the new capacity allocations set forth in a recent Modified Settlement Agreement between the County of Orange, the City of Newport Beach, and two community groups. The Modified Settlement Agreement, which went into legal effect on January 1, 2003 but was gradually implemented, raised the airport’s passenger cap from 8.4 million annual passengers (MAP) to 10.3 million.

Click for more …

El Toro Info Site report, July 29, 2004
Mears will step aside

Irvine City Councilman Chris Mears is reported to have decided against a run for reelection. Mears is President of the Great Park Corporation and is likely to give up that position along with his council seat. Five of the Corporation's nine board seats are reserved for members of the council.

El Toro Info Site report, July 29, 2004
Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport edges LAX for third place

In 2003, Los Angeles International was the nation's third busiest passenger airport behind Atlanta and Chicago's O'Hare. It served 54,982,838 passengers according to Airports Council International, an industry group. Dallas-Ft. Worth was a close fourth with 53, 253,607.

Both airports are showing strong gains in 2004 but DFW overtook LAX in April. By May 2004, the latest month for published statistics from the two airports, DFW had taken over third place with a year-to-date passenger load of 24,948,289. LAX served 23,803,337 in the same five-month period and dropped to fourth place among domestic airports.

Amongst airports worldwide the passenger volume ranking is Atlanta, Chicago, London Heathrow, Tokyo Haneda, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and Los Angeles.

El Toro Info Site report, July 28, 2004
High rise buildings crowding John Wayne's flight paths?

The business and local sections of the newspapers have reported on several new high rise buildings planned for Santa Ana and Irvine. While some of these tall buildings have attracted opposition from neighbors on the ground, little has been reported in the press about controversy over their proximity to John Wayne airport flight paths.

The Airport Land Use Commission, much maligned on this website for retaining obsolete restrictions around El Toro, also is inconsistently challenging development near John Wayne. The ALUC has not updated its John Wayne Airport Environs Land Use Plan to reflect recent increases made in the number of flights and passengers allowed at the airport.

At the commission's last meeting, they debated and then failed to act on residential/commercial towers proposed for a site within the Irvine Business Complex. Developers complain that the ALUC fails to follow logic, balking at some new projects that are lower in height than nearby existing buildings or further from the flight paths.

OC Register, July 26, 2004
"Supervisor stays course where airport is issue"

"Orange County Supervisor Chuck Smith . . . was a staunch backer of developing a commercial airport at the former El Toro Marine base, for years in the 3-2 majority of supervisors in that camp."

"Now in the closing months of his eight years as supervisor, Smith has latched on to an idea about county-run John Wayne Airport: Sell it and use the money to pay off the county's $850 million in outstanding bankruptcy debt."

"Never mind that county staff have told him that it would require a federal law change, and that the Federal Aviation Administration would be unlikely to approve such a sale. He's pushing ahead anyway. He said he'll ask the county to explore pushing the law change and the FAA approvals – and finding a buyer."

Website Editor: At some point Smith's fellow supervisors will have to vote yes or no on the proposal. So far he seems to be flying solo with the idea and no one is stopping him.

"'Los Angeles World Airports might be interested. Newport Beach might be interested,' he said. 'What advantage is there to the county to run an airport?'"

Navy Compass, July 22, 2004 website posted July 25
"Johnson steps down as Assistant SECNAV for installations and environment"

"WASHINGTON - Secretary of the Navy Gordon England announced July 17 that Hansford T. (H.T.) Johnson is stepping down as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment."

Johnson has been an forceful supporter of disposal of the El Toro property in accordance with Measure W.

His principal deputy, Wayne Arny remains on and will complete the sale of the property.

El Toro Info Site report, July 23, 2004
Pat Bates to seek supervisorial spot in '06.

Assemblywoman Pat Bates, who will be termed out in the State Legislature, has announced that she will run for supervisor. Bates will be seeking the 5th District Board seat currently held by Tom Wilson. Wilson's time on the Board ends in 2006 and he can not run again.

This website has a long-standing policy of not endorsing one anti-airport candidate over another. We do not know who will oppose Pat Bates but it is likely to be one or more of the many other anti-airport electeds in South County. In any case, we are pleased to contemplate someone with Bates' unwavering opposition to El Toro picking up the baton from Wilson. If the airport is still an issue that far in the future, it only will be as a result of mischief in Sacramento. If so, her experience at the State level will come in handy.

OC Register, July 23, 2004
"El Toro: a vision of a park that heals"
"A Harvard expert says the Irvine site has the potential to be world class."

"A Harvard University expert on turning old industrial and military sites into parks suggested Thursday that planners think of the Great Park as a place of healing and regeneration."

"Niall Kirkwood drew on work he has done around the world in also stressing the importance of reaching a consensus on the park's character, accessibility and spirit."

"Kirkwood is chairman of the landscape department at Harvard and has consulted on parks around the world. He is working to help create a park in Monterrey, Mexico, at a former smelting site that is 'extremely contaminated.'"

"Around the world, he said, visionaries are transforming military and industrial sites into places of refuge, regeneration and activity . . . El Toro could become such a place, he said, as he showed pictures of an old steel mill in Germany that has incorporated stone walls and other relics of the plant into the park's design."

OC Register, July 22, 2004
"Professor shares landscape vision for Great Park"

"Could the Great Park draw some inspiration from a trash heap? Niall Kirkwood thinks so."

"The Harvard University professor will explain that and his other ideas for creating the Great Park at 7 tonight in the council chambers."

"Kirkwood is chairman of the landscape department at Harvard and has consulted on parks around the world. He's now working on creating Ayalon Park, a 3,000-acre expanse outside of Tel Aviv, Israel."

"One challenge to developing that park: A 600-acre garbage dump that is 150 feet high and is connected to polluted streams. 'It's a very degraded site - not a pretty piece of land,' Kirkwood said. 'It's similar to a military base.'"

More . . .

Website Editor: The El Toro Restoration Advisory Board that monitors base cleanup will hold its 70th meeting at Irvine City Hall next Wednesday, July 28th at 6:30 PM. For RAB information call 949-726-5398.

El Toro Info Site report, July 21, 2004
ALUC membership update

Yesterday, the Board of Supervisors elected Melody Carruth to be one of its two representatives on the Airport Land Use Commission with a term ending 5/1/06. She has been an active campaigner against a commercial airport at El Toro.

Unfortunately, the Board appoints only two of the seven members on this commission. Two others, who determine whether the pro- or anti-El Toro side has a majority, represent the Orange County Division of the League of California Cities. Two others are selected by the airports and then the six select a seventh member.  According to a member of the League's Executive Board, The City Selection Committee, which is created by State law, and not the League itself elects these reps. The members of The City Selection Committee are the Mayors of all Orange County cities.

One ALUC member must be from a City that is adjacent to an airport, and the other is an at-large member. Newport Beach Councilman Don Webb was selected for the first position when no one from Irvine (an adjacent city) sought the seat. More recently, Harry Dotson of Stanton, a long-time El Toro advocate ran unopposed for the second slot.

By not putting up and supporting anti-airport candidates, ETRPA cities take part of the responsibility for leaving control of ALUC in OCRAA's hands. Consequently, Irvine, Lake Forest and other South County cities live with an intransigent commission that refuses to lift the obsolete airport land use restrictions that remain in place around the former base.

El Toro Info Site report, July 20, 2004
Great Park Symposium #3

Professor Niall Kirkwood is the featured speaker at the third in a series of symposia about park development sponsored by the Great Park Corp. He will speak at the Irvine City Hall on Thursday, July 22 at 7 PM. The public is invited.

Professor Niall Kirkwood is Professor of Landscape Architecture and Technology and Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Design School where he has taught since 1993. Professor Kirkwood's current research focuses on cleaning up industrial sites and making them suitable for public use. His use of innovative technologies, including the use of plants for environmental rehabilitation, and his application of innovative landscape designs have made sites around the globe fit for use that were considered beyond repair.

LA Times, July 18, 2004, posted July 19
"Rail Project Will Not Go Before Voters"
"O.C. transit officials say the CenterLine project from central Santa Ana to John Wayne Airport would have died if the electorate rejected it."

"Transportation officials rejected a proposal last week to let Orange County voters have a say in whether to move forward with the controversial CenterLine project - a $1-billion light rail system."

"The advisory measure would have appeared on the November ballot. But on a 5-4 vote Friday, the Orange County Transportation Authority board killed the idea."

"Board member Miguel A. Pulido, a supporter of the rail line, led the opposition, arguing that a ballot measure would be an unwise gamble because voters would probably reject the project. He suggested that voters who would not benefit from CenterLine - which would connect downtown Santa Ana to John Wayne Airport - might not appreciate its values and vote against it."

Website Editor: We are reminded of Supervisor Jim Silva's one-day of support for a vote on El Toro Airport in 2001 and Supervisor Chuck Smith's telling reaction. "There's no doubt that Supervisor Silva is going south on us," said Supervisor Charles V. Smith. "If he hasn't killed the airport, he's certainly put a pretty good-sized nail in its coffin."

"After five years of work, it would have been too easy for it to be destroyed," he said of the threat a public vote would pose to the project..  "There's no way you could have made the voters understand what they're voting on," Smith said.

Daily Pilot, July 16, 2004
"Report explores potential of selling airport"

"A county report exploring the potential of selling John Wayne Airport arrived at the same conclusion as did a 1995 task force: the county can't sell the airport under federal law, which prohibits any revenue garnered from the sale of the airport to be used for non-airport purposes.

"With this fundraising avenue terminated, the county will now have to get resourceful in raising money through the airport and might consider selling partnerships to cities like Newport Beach, said James Campbell, an aide to Supervisor Charles Smith, who initiated the report."

"'The report is in no way a surprise,' Campbell said. 'Now it's time to take the next step and get creative and look at real alternatives as far as governance is concerned.'"

"In November, the city began a dialogue with the county about having more control over several county-run operations in what it considered its sphere of influence. Chief among those was the airport . . . Newport Beach has been looking for ways to increase its role in the airport management to prevent expansion that could occur after an expansion agreement expires in 2015."

"'We gave a preliminary discussion and paper to the county,' [Mayor Tod] Ridgeway said. 'I think we're prepared to give a more formal and detailed request here in the near future.'"

"The report was not an attempt to replicate the scope of the 1995 task force, which was commissioned by the board as an investigation into possible sources for the payment of debt created by the county's declaration of bankruptcy."

Website Editor: George Argyros headed the 1995 task force. It operated during the period between the 1994 passage of Measure A designating El Toro for commercial aviation use and the 1996 release of the first El Toro EIR calling for the closure of John Wayne to commercial aviation. Presumably the political as well as post-bankruptcy economic climate favored selling the potentially redundant John Wayne.

El Toro Info Site report, July 15, 2004
OCRAA not giving up

Last night the Orange County Regional Airport Authority met, with most of the meeting conducted in closed session. OCRAA members apparently violated the Brown Act, the state's open meeting law, by discussing policy and strategy in secret.

According to well-placed sources, OCRAA still hopes to delay sale of El Toro parcels 1-3 for years, and promote development of an airport on the land. Sale of parcel 4 this year will impact the current runway system but not preclude an alternate airport layout.

An Airport Land Use Commissioner who is also an OCRAA rep reportedly said that stalling the removal of ALUC's land use restrictions around the former El Toro base was an important part of the OCRAA strategy.

LA Times, July 14, 2004
"Sale of John Wayne Airport Is Ruled Out"
"O.C. supervisor's study finds the county can't sell the facility to pay off bankruptcy debt."

"Federal law prohibits Orange County from selling John Wayne Airport as a way to eliminate almost $850 million in debt left from the county's 1994 bankruptcy, a new report concludes."

"The study requested in May by Supervisor Charles V. Smith found that any deal would be blocked by a host of provisions, legislation and agreements going back to the end of World War II, when the U.S. government granted the former Army Air Corps base to the county."

"The county might be able to generate funds from John Wayne Airport, [Smith's assistant, James] Campbell said, by selling partnerships in its governance for millions of dollars to surrounding municipalities, port authorities or transportation agencies."

"'Would an outside entity be willing to pay a fee to the county to have a seat at the table, to have a say in the future of Southern California aviation? My boss will be looking for those answers,'" Campbell said.

Website Editor: Which "municipalities, port authorities or transportation agencies" might they be thinking would want "a say in the future" at John Wayne? The City of Newport Beach? Los Angeles World Airports? Or a state-mandated regional airport authority such as the Legislature created for San Diego?

More . . .

El Toro Info Site report, July 13, 2004 - updated
The ALUC circus

The Orange County Airport Land Use Commission had a bad day Monday.

A special meeting of the commission, called to approve a major development project in the City of Santa Ana near the John Wayne Airport flight path came unraveled. Commissioner Tom O'Malley reports that after a half-hour technical delay and three-quarters of an hour of discussion, the commission decided that Santa Ana and ALUC staffs were not prepared and action was tabled. O'Malley chided the commission for calling the unnecessary special meeting.

Fullerton Airport Manager Rod Prost, whose ALUC term expired on May 1, retains his seat as Vice-Chairman of the commission. As of this morning, ALUC staff could provide no evidence that Prost was ever re-appointed to the commission. However, ALUC's Executive Director said that even if Prost was not re-appointed, he is still a commissioner until replaced. She quoted The California Airport Land Use Planning Handbook, which states that "The practice of many ALUC's is for members to continue to serve until a replacement is appointed even if their terms of office have expired."

Former Commissioner Denny Harris, who recently was removed as a Board of Supervisors' appointee to ALUC, received a phone call just before Monday's meeting telling him not to participate. Harris had planned to serve until his replacement was elected and seated.  He cited the same section of The California Airport Land Use Planning Handbook, that "The practice of many ALUC's is for members to continue to serve until a replacement is appointed even if their terms of office have expired." We are told that the practice is not followed in the case of a removal.

Former Commissioner Patty Campbell of Seal Beach showed up and was seated at the commissioners' table after being replaced as a League of Cities rep to ALUC. Campbell apparently participated as an alternate commissioner selected by her replacement.

El Toro Info Site report, July 13, 2004
Don't get Darth Vader angry.

Sent to the Daily Pilot: Dan Emory, in a July 13 letter about the Airport Working Group, calls me "the Darth Vader of South County. . . the enemy personified."  I could let that pass, but he and the Pilot repeatedly garbled my name as "Krasner" which it is not. For that, I am inclined to wield my light saber in anger.
Leonard K-r-a-n-s-e-r

El Toro Info Site report, July 11, 2004
Long-time comrades lose their airport fight

Before there was an ETRPA organized in Orange County, there was the Airport Communities Coalition, a coalition of cities and school districts fighting against a proposed third runway at Seattle-Tacoma airport. Before there was a TRP or Project 99 here, there was CASE, Citizens Against Sea-Tac Expansion. As an early model for this El Toro website, there was the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs RCAA site.  They were our comrades from whom we gathered ideas and encouragement. We shared airport environmental, health and economic research reports.

Unfortunately, Sea-Tac neighbors have lost their long battle. The Tacoma (WA) News Tribune reports that "Construction has quietly resumed on one of the most expensive and contentious public works projects in the history of Puget Sound, the billion-dollar third runway at Sea-Tac Airport."

It's a sober message for airport community groups that they can try mightily but not every campaign can succeed in blocking airport expansion. It is a reminder to the Airport Working Group in Newport Beach, to LAX neighbors, and to us.

Until the El Toro runways are gone, and replaced with new development, we must remain vigilant.

San Diego Union-Tribune, July 9, posted July 10, 2004
"More sites put in mix in airport relocation"

"The search for sites for a new [San Diego] regional airport was reopened yesterday after the agency in charge of the process agreed to consider national forest, state park and Indian lands excluded from a previous study."

"In a unanimous vote, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority board sent consultants back to their computers to analyze about 400,000 acres left out of the earlier search, including the Cleveland National Forest and Anza-Borrego state park."

"Yesterday's vote also added two remote East County locations from a previous search - one near Campo and one near Borrego Springs - to the list of places being considered. The decision could put up to nine options into play for the site-selection project, expected to end with a proposal that will be presented to [San Diego] voters countywide in November 2006."

Click for the entire San Diego news report.

Click for a summary of an airport site selection study concluded in Orange County in 1990.

El Toro Info Site report, July 10, 2004
JWA Sale Update - No Sale

Supervisor Bill Campbell reports in an email bulletin:

El Toro Info Site report, July 9, 2004 - updated
Anti-El Toro leader ousted from ALUC

The Board of Supervisors ousted Denny Harris, long-time anti-airport leader, from the Airport Land Use Commission without any explanation. The Board action came in the form of an item included in June 29th's consent calendar by Supervisor Wilson and passed without public discussion. Harris is not named in the motion but he and Tom O'Malley were the Board's only two at large representatives to the commission.

Neither Harris, nor O'Malley knew of the rescinding of Harris' appointment. His term was scheduled to run until 2006. No explanation was given for the action, which only became generally known when Harris received a letter from the Deputy Clerk of the Board last night, thanking him for his service.

Denny Harris was a long-time leader of Taxpayers for Responsible Planning, TRP and its offshoot, Committee for Safe and Healthy Communities, CSHC and has been one of the few voices of reason on ALUC asking the pro-airport commission to rescind its El Toro Airport land use restrictions.

Supervisor Wilson's office indicated that airport opponent City Council Member Melody Carruth of Laguna Hills is the likely new appointee.

Press-Enterprise, July 7, 2004 posted July 8, 2004
"March base prepares for more military flights"

"A dozen C-17A aircraft and related personnel would be stationed at the base in August while the runway at McChord Air Force Base in Washington state is closed for repairs . . . [and] gives the base an opportunity to gear up for the permanent arrival of eight C-17A aircraft in July 2005."

"Approximately $45 million is being spent on new infrastructure at the base to support the giant aircraft, including a special hangar and flight simulator. The C-17A has a price tag of about $200 million."

"Orangecrest-area homeowner and environmental activist Catherine Barrett-Fischer said she thinks most people in the community would be happy to hear other military units plan to make good use of the nearby air base."

"While she keeps a wary eye on the number of nonmilitary cargo planes coming in and out of the base area, more military operations increases the base's chances for survival in the upcoming round of base realignments, Barrett-Fischer said."

Click for the entire article.

Website Editor: Meanwhile, the San Diego Regional Airport Authority eyes March as one of several prospective locations for a new San Diego Airport but not without opposition from residents. March also has been discussed as a place to accommodate future Orange County air traffic.

SCAG projects the reserve base to handle 8 million annual passengers in 2030, making it a major facility on a scale with today's John Wayne airport.

El Toro Info Site report, July 7, 2004
SCAG Compass points to future

The Southern California Association of Governments, SCAG released its Compass Southern California report "Charting a course for a sustainable Southland" last week. The report is available online as a 5.1 MB pdf file.

Regarding aviation service for the region's additional 6 million new residents in the next 25 years, the report states:

Elsewhere, the report anticipates "shifting more cargo movements to Ontario International Airport to free LAX for passenger travel." This emphasis on passenger service at LAX contradicts Mayor James Hahn's plan to shrink the number of gates at the Los Angeles airport in a politically driven attempt to limit passenger service.

The report also says "Ontario Airport is planning an additional runway to increase capacity." Ontario area officials pressed SCAG planners to remove this expansion option from their 2004 Regional Transportation Plan.

El Toro Info Site report, July 5, 2004
El Toro book updated

Two years ago, Website Editor Len Kranser documented the El Toro airport battle in a book, Internet for Activists - A hands-on guide to Internet tactics field-tested in the fight against building El Toro Airport.

The book's Chronology of the War over El Toro ends with this final entry:

The Afterword leaves readers with the following:

Click here for an updated (July 2004) Chronology and Afterword that either can be read as a text webpage or printed in .pdf format for inserting into the book. It has been a long war.

Daily Pilot editorial, July 4, 2004
"Airport alternative must stay on radar"

"The question is: Are those pro-airport forces [like the Airport Working Group] still out there?"

"Their central raison d'etre — an airport at El Toro — is gone. Supervisor Jim Silva, once again, made that clear enough this week when he said, 'That was the only game in town, the El Toro airport, and that went down in defeat.'"

"But residents of Newport-Mesa . . . need to sink their teeth into a new fight."

"What's the new answer for an alternative to rising passenger levels at John Wayne? Is it transportation to a larger airport in Ontario? Is it a north San Diego County airport? Certainly, the men and women who have dedicated innumerable hours to this issue during the past decade can think of even more, important questions — and maybe some useful answers."

"Orange County continues to prosper and will continue to require air traffic to fuel the economy's engine, whether via business travel or tourist traffic to the area. El Toro is not going to be part of the solution. But a solution, of some sort, is not an option. It is a necessity."

Click for the full text of the editorial.

Website Editor: If there is a "solution", it should come through a countywide planning effort. It is unlikely to win support if led by antagonists, like the Airport Working Group, that demonstrate litigious self-interest and a propensity to use blatant propaganda.

Long Beach Grunion Gazette, July 1, 2004 posted July 2, 2004 - revised
"FAA: Area Needs More Air Capacity"                       

"A federal study looking at the growth in airplane traffic in the next two decades has said that the greater Los Angeles area is going to need to add flights — and that Long Beach should take some of those on."

"The nationwide study, done by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), pointed to more than 20 airports and regions nationwide that needed to add runways and flights before the year 2020 to keep up with expected demand."

"Long Beach has a grandfathered noise ordinance that has gotten some certification by the FAA. Long Beach’s ordinance limits the number of flights out of the airport by capping the noise 'bucket.' That limit currently is 41 large commercial jet flights per day and 25 commuter jets (less than 75,000 pounds) per day. The Long Beach Airport has reached that daily maximum for large jets, but does not have any commuter flights."

Website Editor: The FAA study does not list San Diego's Lindbergh Field as one that needs expansion though this possibility is under extensive study in San Diego. It also does not list LAX for expansion beyond what is "currently planned."  In an apparent contradiction, the FAA's March 2004 Terminal Area Forecast, its long-range projection, shows LAX serving about 96 million annual passengers in 2020 but Mayor Hahn seeks to cap the airport at 78 MAP.

LA Times, July 1, 2004
"Infrastructure Costs for El Toro Site Are Estimated to Be $40 Million Higher"

"Irvine officials now estimate that the city will need an additional $40 million to build roads and utility lines for their planned Great Park because of delays in the sale of the land, site of the former El Toro Marine base."

"The extra cost will not jeopardize Irvine's efforts . . . but it could reduce the amount of money the federal government gets for the land, real estate experts say. Because infrastructure costs will be borne mostly by developers who buy the land, they likely will bid less to offset the higher expenses, the experts say."

"The move is necessary because the Navy announced earlier this year that the land will be sold in phases rather than in one auction as previously planned. This means the work will cost more because of rising material costs and financing costs, city officials say."

"The Navy said it will auction the first parcel this fall. Irvine officials estimate the other parcels will be sold by the end of 2005."

"Still, with fast-rising property values in Orange County . . . El Toro is still likely to fetch a high amount. Previous estimates have ranged from $800 million to $1.2 billion."

For more . . .