October
2000 News - Click on date for
storyOctober
2000 News - Click on date for
storyOC Register, October 31, 2000
“Irvine's stance on anti-airport plan turns cloudy”
Las Vegas Review-Journal, October 29, 2000, website
published October 30, 2000
“Clinton signs Ivanpah airport legislation”
“President's signature will put detailed airspace and environmental
studies into motion”
Website Direct, October 30, 2000
Candidates statements updated
LA Times, October 27, 2000
"Poll on El Toro Finds Support Still Lagging"
"South County continues to lead the opposition, but for the first
time a North County majority also is against airport"
Website Direct, October 26, 2000
Cal State Fullerton poll shows continued drop in
support for El Toro airport
Measure F results parallel anti-airport sentiment
Website Direct, October 25, 2000
Candidates’ Statements
OC Register, October 25, 2000
“O.C. board begins redistricting”
“County's changing demographics - and El Toro factionalism -
appear to be factors in supervisors' decision.”
OC Register, October 25, 2000
“'Great Park' plan scrapped”
Website Direct, October 24, 2000
Supervisors vote to re-certify El Toro EIR
They Duck Southern California Regional Airport Authority move,
for now.
OC Register, October 24, 2000
“Airport foes wary of environment plan”
“A new study assumes a smaller facility, but the old report gets
a vote today.”
Website Direct, October 23, 2000
The Real Buzz
Website Direct, October 22, 2000
What is the real airport plan?
LA Times - Costa Mesa, Newport Beach Community Newspapers,
October 21, 2000
“It's time to fix a broken system in Newport Beach”
OC Register, October 21, 2000
“Pro-airport group accuses Irvine council of secrecy”
Website Direct, October 19, 2000
Lack of CAC but EIR moves ahead
Website Direct, October 19, 2000
Ominous attempt to remove OC residents' control
over El Toro
Wall Street Journal, California, Letters to Editor,
October 18, 2000
“Debating the Future of LAX”
Website Direct, October 17, 2000 - late post
Planning Commission passes on airport EIR.
LA Times, October 17, 2000
“Irvine Council Majority Calls Park Study Greatly
Exaggerated”
Mayoral hopeful Agran censured for releasing study seen as skewed,
premature. He says good news should be shared.”
Website Direct, October 17, 2000
Massive airport plan is only one on the table
Website Direct, October 17, 2000
El Toro tidbits today
OC Register October 16, 2000
El Toro Airport website direct, October 16,
2000
“Supervisor says conversion of El Toro moving too
slowly”
LA Times editorial, October 15, 2000
“The John Wayne Airport Factor”
OC Register, October 12, 2000
“FAA reviewing plan for airport”
Website Direct posted October 12, 2000
Two San Diego Mayoral Candidates Like Pendleton
Airport with Orange County
OC Register, October 10, 2000
“Airport proponents get ammunition from Ward”
“They say comments by the Irvine councilman are proof that Measure
F violates state law.”
LA Times, October 10, 2000
“Irvine's Next Mayor Comes With High Voltage”
“Larry Agran, controversial in job during '80s and unopposed
now, sparks alarm over sizzling El Toro issue.”
LA Times, October 7, 2000
"John Wayne's Noise Curfew Faces Threat"
"Given rapid growth and lack of a companion airport, pressure
will increase to allow later flights, consultant says. El Toro foes have
doubts."
Website Direct, October 7, 2000
John Wayne data updated and compared to San Diego
airport
OC Register, October 6, 2000
“Study views El Toro impact”
“ Leaked report shows airport could provide economic gain in
O.C.”
From a Website Viewer, October 4, 2000
El Toro from above Aliso Viejo
Wall Street Journal, Business Fare, October 4, 2000
“New Study Suggests Expansion Of LAX May Not Be
Worth It”
OC Register, October 2, 2000
"The Buzz: Spitzer Aims at CEO…"
More about the Airport Land Use Commission
(For full articles see L.A. Times at http://www.latimes.com and O.C.
Register at http://www.ocregister.com/news/
“NEWPORT BEACH - The proposed El Toro airport should be sharply reduced in size - to no more than 14 million annual passengers… Developer George Argyros, who has personally spent millions of dollars on pro-airport efforts, told members of the Airport Working Group. ‘There's no reason why it can't have the same curfews as John Wayne Airport,’ Argyros said at the group's annual meeting at the Balboa Bay Club. ‘There's no reason why it should be an international airport.’”
"’I'd like to see it down to 12 to 14 million annual passengers,’ he said. ‘I think we have to change the tone of the airport so it's neighborly, friendly’."
“Barbara Lichman, the group's executive director, said that shrinking the airport - from the proposed 28.8 million annual passengers to between 10.5 million and 14 million - is a goal for the group in the coming year, both to lower the burden on communities near El Toro and to make its development ‘more politically acceptable.’”
“Argyros, who rarely speaks in public on the airport, spent much of his 30-minute talk explaining why he got involved in the El Toro effort… He insisted that it is a personal decision - a payback to the county where he has lived and worked for decades - not a business one. ‘I own no land down there,’ he said. ‘I'm not there for personal interest. I'm involved because I think it's important. It's been difficult, but I think we can get it done.’"
Editor: This is a scary Halloween “trick or treat” story. It’s a big push for the airport proponents’ latest political strategy - Let the camel get its nose into the tent and the rest will follow. Meanwhile, a 38 million annual passenger airport is the only project officially on the table. Scaling back on the number of passengers sidesteps the issue of air cargo flights, which are rumored to be at the center of the Argyros’ interest in El Toro. What do viewers think of this development?
“Political wrangling at Irvine City Hall has clouded the question of just what airport opponents want instead of an airport at the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. In a move viewed by many as motivated by Irvine elections next week, the City Council voted 3-0 last week to stop planning for an El Toro park and to ask the state to take over.”
“That prompted airport backers - whose dreams for El Toro have suffered this year at the ballot box and in public-opinion polls - to cheerfully criticize their opponents for the perceived disarray.”
“[Airport] opponents insist their non- aviation plans are essentially the same plan, though one that has evolved over time. They counter that proposals for an airport also run a gamut of sizes and layouts. The original non-airport plan - the Millennium Plan - had a mix of homes, businesses and a park. It is analyzed as a non- aviation plan in the county and Navy environmental studies. It eventually metamorphosed, however, into Millennium Plan II, which upped the open space and lowered the traffic and density. That plan is included in an environmental study by Irvine as part of its base annexation bid.”
“Now there is the Great Park plan, an Irvine-backed proposal to turn most of the base into a vast central park. That is the plan that the Irvine City Council stepped back from last week, saying that while it still wants a big park at the base, it would prefer that the state take over its planning and development.”
Two of the three council members who voted to do so are running for re-election against candidates aligned with Councilman Larry Agran, whose mayoral campaign touts his work on the Great Park plan. ‘I think it's just short-term politics that is confusing to the public and damaging to the consensus plan that we have put together,’ Agran said.”
“The political infighting in Irvine has been and continues to be a concern for others in the anti-airport arena.” Editor: As one airport opponent said, “November 7 can’t come soon enough.”… We need to bring an end to the election posturing.
Supervisor Todd Spitzer said, “’At some point people are going to have to commit to a plan, and it's going to have to survive strict scrutiny,’ he said, expressing his belief that within two years, county residents will be asked to vote for or against an airport plan and a competing non-aviation plan. Voters are going to have to be asked, do you support one or another plan?’”
“President Clinton signed legislation Saturday allowing Clark County to purchase 6,500 acres of dry lake bed in the Ivanpah Valley… for development into Southern Nevada's second major airport. Clinton's signature sets into motion detailed airspace and environmental studies to determine whether the site is appropriate to become a major cargo and passenger destination. The new facility is being planned to relieve [Las Vewgas] McCarran International Airport, which is expected to reach its 55-million annual passenger capacity by 2010.”
“Planners have said the new Ivanpah airport could be in operation in 2009. Clark County officials plan to build the two-runway facility off Interstate 15 about 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas, between Jean and Primm.”
More statements from candidates in the November 7 election have been received and posted on our webpages.
"In renewed bad news for supporters of a second Orange County airport, nearly 58% of voters say they are opposed to building a new facility at the closed El Toro Marine base, according to a new survey released Thursday. Airport foes continue to dominate in South County cities closest to the base, but for the first time, more than half of North County voters--52%--indicated they also oppose building the new airport. The survey was conducted by the Center for Public Policy at Cal State Fullerton and sponsored by the Orange County Business Council, which has historically supported an airport at El Toro."
"Additionally, about 44% of the 544 voters surveyed said they now are 'strongly opposed' to the airport, indicating a growing number of hard-core opponents even as a majority of Orange County supervisors continues pushing for the controversial airport. Keith Boyum, director of Cal State Fullerton's policy center, said history shows that multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns rarely have a dramatic effect on committed voters. 'People who report that they feel strongly about something tend to stay in that position,' Boyum said."
"The recent poll results validate the notion that Measure F--which captured 67% of the vote--was a mandate against the airport, said Len Kranser, spokesman for Citizens for Safe and Healthy Communities."
"Airport foes have said they want a measure to kill the airport outright on the ballot in 2002, rescinding voter approval for the airport that narrowly passed in 1994. It is likely such a measure would replace the airport zoning for either [a] mixed redevelopment or the park plan."
The Social Science Research Center of Cal State University, Fullerton released results today, of their latest Orange County public opinion survey. The survey is one of a series, conducted in cooperation with the Orange County Business Council. The latest survey found a 19 percentage point swing in public opinion since the first survey was done in November 1999. There has been a 9 percentage point drop in support and over 10 percent increase in opposition to an airport at El Toro The percentage of undecided respondents decreased.
In October 2000, those opposed to an international airport at El Toro were 58 percent of the respondents. Supporters were 33 percent with the remaining 8 percent undecided. That puts airport opponents 25 percentage points ahead; 58 percent versus 33 percent.
In 1999, those opposed were 47 percent; supporters were 42 percent with 11 percent undecided. At that time, airport opponents were 5 percentage points ahead.
Opposition exceeds support for the airport in both North and South County.
Eliminating data for the undecided, the results closely parallel the results of the Measure F election. Among decided survey respondents, who were selected from a population of registered voters, the airport was opposed by 63.5 percent to 36.5 percent. Measure F proponents see the data as bolstering the contention that the 67.3 percent to 32.7 percent victory for Measure F was largely the result of anti-airport sentiment.
Click here for a tabular presentation of the data.
Outside of South County cities, few candidates are willing to state a position of opposition to El Toro airport. The website has begun a new page, Candidates’ Statements and we are trying to obtain messages for posting, particularly from major candidates for the Congress and State Assembly. Check back again before you vote.
“The county's Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to create a committee to review 2000 Census data and make recommendations on new boundaries for the five supervisorial districts, quietly setting the stage for what's likely to be one of the biggest local political battles of 2001.”
“Talk in county circles has … focused on the possibility that the board's majority faction might pack south-county opponents of the proposed El Toro airport into one district by moving Lake Forest and Mission Viejo from the Third District to the Fifth District. Both districts are now represented by airport opponents.” Consideration also is being given to moving Newport Beach out of Tom Wilson’s anti-El Toro Fifth District and into the Second District, to bolster Jim Silva’s chances for reelection in 2002.
But Mission Viejo Councilwoman Susan Withrow predicted that whatever the new boundaries, they wouldn't get airport plans back on track. ‘Prevailing sentiment ... in each of the districts is against an airport,’ she said.”
“The Irvine City Council voted 3-0 Tuesday night to scrap the "Great Park" non-aviation proposal for the closed El Toro Marine base in favor of a plan to make the land part of the state park system. Councilman Larry Agran, whose mayoral campaign has centered on a Great Park, was absent.”
“A 3,000-plus-acre Great Park would cost too much for one region to maintain, Councilman Dave Christensen said.” Mike Ward then proposed a resolution that the city concentrates on a State, rather than a Great Park. He said that many of the respondents to a survey by the city, while expressing support for an open space, also voiced concerns about its being financially sound.”
“The city had studied the Great Park option for months, along with south county's Millennium Plan, which includes park land and other development.”
Editor: This latest sudden twist must leave airport proponents laughing at the division, created by Irvine city politics, in South County's heretofore united front. At the Board meeting earlier in the day, Supervisor Silva had derisively referred to the “Larry Agran Park” as one of several non-aviation plans for the closed base. The El Toro Coalition and ETRPA are anxiously working to put all parties back together and united on a single strategy and reuse plan.
The Board of Supervisors voted, 3-1, with Todd Spitzer opposed and Tom Wilson out of town, to re-certify the 1996 EIR 563 for a 38 MAP airport at El Toro with John Wayne closing. While county staff portrayed EIR 563 as a necessary first step before the entirely different airport plans of EIR 573 can be completed, today’s action seemed to demonstrate more of a rush to keep moving ahead. The latest revision of the EIR is likely to land the county and ETRPA back in court.
The EIR re-certified today acknowledges that the airport plan will produce negative air quality impacts which are “neither practical nor feasible to mitigate.” Supervisor Todd Spitzer grilled staff on just how much pollution would be created in Orange County and how this might be reduced, with the repeated response that this would be addressed in the newer EIR 573.
Six individuals spoke in favor of certifying the EIR. They included Charles Griffin, who called the present “double crossing” runway plan “unworkable” - depicting it with a skull and cross bones and then a photo of Supervisor Smith. Griffin continued to promote his V Plan (“Wildlands Ranch Plan”) alternative, and was supported by three other speakers whom he assisted with their visual aides and even prompted with the correct words. Griffin accused the Irvine Company of financially backing the airport opponents. One of his co-presenters jolted the audience when she suggested that El Toro become the county’s only airport and that John Wayne be converted to a large jail.
Ten speakers opposed certification. Three of them, from the City of Irvine and ETRPA, appeared to be setting the stage for legal action against the county for failure “of intent and commitment to following a reasonable planning process”. They called for the county to abandon EIR 563 and recirculate a plan that describes the county’s true proposal for El Toro.
Of the seven other citizen activists who spoke against the board’s action, Pastor John Stewart was most effective. Sermonizing forcefully, he repeated his long-standing question. “How is this a loving thing to do to your neighbors?” Pastor Stewart told the supervisors that “You don’t need an EIR to tell you … You wouldn’t do this to your own neighborhoods… Why not be real leaders?”
Supervisor Silva absented himself from the room during these remarks and the comments from five other airport opponents, returning in time to hear all of the pro-El Toro statements.
On another agenda item, the Supervisors delayed, until November 7, consideration of appointing Chairman Smith to the currently inactive Southern California Regional Airport Authority and to help fund the organization.
“The revised 1996 El Toro environmental report - which county supervisors are expected to reapprove today - continues to concern airport opponents, who worry that it may leave the door ajar for a bigger and busier airport than county officials now say they want. County airport planners, however, say those fears are unfounded because the 4-year-old document has little relevance to the airport now on their drawing boards.”
“County officials also say that what airport opponents call discrepancies between the county plan and the Navy's simultaneous environmental study are moot because the Navy has said it will remain neutral and make no recommendation for the future of El Toro when it transfers the base to the county.”
Editor: If true, a “neutral Record of Decision” (ROD), from the Navy would be a major achievement for anti-airport forces who, years ago, set that as one of their goals. Early concern was that the Navy might transfer the property for aviation use only, which would complicate the drive for non-aviation reuse. Attorney's will have to study whether a neutral ROD conforms to Measure F.
Today’s OC Register "THE BUZZ" article headlined, “Assembly seat tempts supervisor” includes a critical error. The newspaper says, “County supervisor Todd Spitzer is eyeing the assembly seat held by Bill Campbell, R – Villa Park, who must move on in 2002 because of term limits.”
The Register then goes on to state, incorrectly, that “Spitzer must leave the Board [of Supervisors] in 2002 because of term limits. Not so. Spitzer was reelected this year and could serve until 2004. If Spitzer leaves his county position in 2002, before the end of his term, Governor Gray Davis will appoint a replacement supervisor. Those who wonder whether the Governor is pro- or anti-El Toro will get their answer.
Among the other names suggested to run for Campbell’s seat is Supervisor Cynthia Coad’s husband, Tom Coad. Bill Campbell endorsed Measure F. Coad does not hold the same view.
Also believed to have political ambitions is another Campbell - James Campbell, assistant to Supervisor Charles Smith. James Campbell frequently speaks for Supervisor Smith, as he did in today’s Register. Reportedly, Campbell also frequently speaks with George Argyros.
As the Board of Supervisors moves towards recertifying their 1996 El Toro Airport Environmental Impact Report 563 this week, fresh questions are being raised about the county's Community Reuse Plan (CRP), for El Toro. The EIR coming back to the Board on Tuesday at 9:30 AM describes a 38 MAP (million annual passenger) airport at El Toro with John Wayne airport closing to commercial traffic.
Airport proponents suggest that "they don't really mean it", and intend to keep John Wayne open in a two-airport system combined with a somewhat smaller El Toro. On December 11, 1996, the Board of Supervisors even passed a resolution to that effect, essentially repudiating their official Community Reuse Plan, which is tied to EIR 563.
However, they never changed the CRP. They submitted it to the Navy in December 1996, it's the only official plan out there, and it governs what happens to El Toro. The Navy is using the CRP as the basis for its own Environmental Impact Study and eventual transfer of the property to the county. The FAA says the CRP is the basis for that agency's aviation study.
This week, the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority (ETRPA) put the question to Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy William Cassidy, Jr., the key official on the project. ETRPA wrote that the Supervisors, by their resolution of December 11, 1996, "rejected the Community Reuse Plan and nevertheless submitted it to the Departments of Navy and Housing and Urban Development for further action… ETRPA requests that the Department of the Navy direct the Local Redevelopment Authority to identify a Community Reuse Plan which truly reflects the LRA's intentions for the reuse of El Toro."
"This convoluted process has confused and misled the public… and has caused the unnecessary expenditure of millions of dollars of taxpayer monies. The public is entitled to know what exactly is the process for this, the largest development issue in their County", ETRPA wrote.
Daily Pilot Columnist Steve Smith writes about Newport Beach politics, “It was one year ago next month that I first heard county Supervisor Tom Wilson use the term ‘the clock is ticking’ with regard to the expiration of the 2005 flight moratorium at John Wayne Airport. Since that time, no progress has been made to convince any federal decision-makers that we don't want more flights out of John Wayne. Instead, the Newport Beach City Council has maintained a ‘see no evil, hear no evil’ approach to the problem by challenging Measure F -- the so-called Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative that was passed in March -- in court and living in a state of denial about the future of air traffic in our backyard.”
“A good candidate for City Council is one who will stop squandering precious time and resources on an airport that will not be built at El Toro and throw all of his or her energy exclusively into a strategy to continue the flight moratorium at John Wayne. That person will accept the olive branch extended eight months ago by the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority and will join forces to stop airport growth.”
Editor: What's
your opinion? How long should South County hold out that olive branch?
OC Register, October
21, 2000
“Pro-airport group accuses Irvine council of secrecy”
The Airport Working Group, “a Newport Beach-based pro-airport group sent a letter to the district attorney Friday afternoon, asking that the office investigate whether the Irvine City Council violated open-meetings laws when it met behind closed doors to discuss a study on the proposed ‘Great Park’ at the closed El Toro air base… The letter makes reference to closed meetings held in September and October, where the council voted 4-0 to send the $60,000 city-funded study back to consultants Whitney & Whitney for reworking.”
“City Attorney Joel Kuperberg said that it was legal to talk about the report in a closed meeting, because it falls under the ‘land transaction’ exception of state open meetings laws.”
Mayoral candidate Larry “Agran said the [Newport Beach] group's letter is an attempt … to antagonize the council. ‘Their motivation in taking this to the district attorney is obviously to harass the Irvine City Council because we have up until recently been so united in our opposition to the airport and our support instead for a Great Park at El Toro.’”
The latest revision of the 1996 EIR 563 for El Toro stumbled forward today. It calls for a 38 MAP El Toro airport and the closing of John Wayne to commercial aviation. Approval by Supervisors Smith, Silva and Coad, next Tuesday morning, is such a foregone conclusion that the commissions nominally responsible for analysis and recommendations aren’t even bothering to do their jobs.
The El Toro Reuse Citizens Advisory Commission, (ETCAC) the group created by Measure A, failed to muster a quorum again today. Among the missing were George Argyros and his alternate, Bruce Nestande, Tom Edwards and Dennis O’Neil of Newport Beach, and Bob Bell of Villa Park, a proponent of the alternative McGowan Plan for runways at El Toro. So, the CAC did not take any official action.
Only the Airport Commission mustered enough votes today, to recommend, 3-1, that the Supervisors certify the EIR. Click for Hanna Hill's report on the meetings.
Monday, the Planning Commission also failed to make a recommendation.
The first item on the consent calendar (often 60 or more items on the agenda that can be approved, en mass, without discussion if someone isn’t careful) for next Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, reads:
"1. Chairman Smith - Chairman's appointment - Southern California Regional Airport Authority - Appoint Supervisor Charles Smith as regular and Supervisor James Silva as alternate members; and authorize use of John Wayne Airport and Local Redevelopment Authority staff for necessary support services."
Chairman Charles Smith’s interest in reviving, and putting Orange County money into the moribund Southern California Regional Airport Authority (SCRAA), is extremely ominous.
A 1992 federal report, on ways to prevent future riots in the Los Angeles inner city, recommended that SCRAA have “responsibility for coordinating all commercial airports in the five-county region, as well as for siting, building and managing new airports.”
The five-member board of SCRAA includes two Los Angeles seats and one each from Orange County, Riverside and San Bernadino. Smith could tip the balance of power in favor of Los Angeles interests that want to build El Toro to relieve LAX. If so, Orange County residents would lose control of their own fate, to a regional joint powers authority (JPA) empowered for “siting, building and managing” a new airport here.
Attend the meeting or, write to the supervisors.
The Wall Street Journal printed a letter today from your website editor. We've never posted one of our own letters on the website, but can't help celebrating the Journal's publication of this one. Please forgive any appearance of immodesty, but it's good to have Journal readers see an anti-El Toro response to their October 4 article.
The Planning Commission deadlocked today 2-2, and did not approve the revisions to the El Toro EIR. Commissioners objected to having little time to review the documents. See story below. Under prodding from Jack Golden, County Counsel’s office, the Planning Commission passed the plan to the Board of Supervisors without a recommendation.
The Board will act on certifying the 1996 plan for a 38 MAP airport at their meeting on October 24 at 9:30 AM. The matter is being steamrollered forward despite the fact that Tom Wilson, in whose supervisorial district El Toro is located, will be on vacation.
This will be a good meeting for concerned citizens to attend and speak at… Or write to the newspapers.
“A study that shows transforming the mothballed Marine base at El Toro into an urban park could generate as much as $10 million a year in profits is misleading, premature and overly optimistic”, according to four members of the Irvine City Council who rebuked mayoral candidate Larry Agran for releasing it. [Editor: The Times previously reported that the park would generate $20 million a year.]
Council members censured Agran who allegedly, “released the document to promote a slate of council candidates on next month’s city ballot.” [Agran is campaigning to pull like-minded candidates, Chris Mears, Anthony Dragon and Beth Kron onto the council with him.]
Agran, [who made the non-aviation Millennium Plan the central issue of his 1998 campaign council] is now promoting the “Great Park” concept as “a cornerstone of his mayoral campaign. He “said he decided to release the document because it ‘has extremely good news in it.’”
The county’s 1996 environmental impact report, battered by lawsuits and repeatedly patched at great expense, lurches forward like Frankenstein this week. The report describes a 38 MAP (million annual passenger) airport with John Wayne airport closing to commercial aviation. All talk of a “community friendly” kinder gentler airport is no where to be found in official documents.
The Planning Commission will likely bless the latest court-ordered repair of EIR 563’s air quality section, today at 1:30 PM in the Planning Hearing Room at the Hall of Administration in Santa Ana. The Airport Commission probably will attach its approval on Thursday and the Board of Supervisors is expected to certify the report, with the usual 3-2 split, next Tuesday at their meeting. Then it goes back to the judge who rejected previous drafts of the report, and may be challenged legally again.
The "Proposed Final Second Supplemental Anaylsis" claims that the airport project will result in significant air quality impacts but provides no new disclosure as to the extent of these impacts. One study of the health risks can be found in a report by county consultants previously posted on this website.
The plan is the only airport design being considered by the FAA, according to comments from local FAA officials who met recently with Supervisors Smith and Wilson. It is the basis of the Navy’s environmental impact study and will be the basis of the anticipated Record of Decision transferring the land to the county.
Talk about keeping John Wayne open in a two-airport system, or scaling back El Toro to a kinder-gentler airport is nothing but smoke.
Cal State Fullerton Cal State Fullerton is trying to determine what its campus will look like in twenty years. Officials say that a part of the dream for the future is the acquisition of 300 acres at El Toro if an airport is not built.
Laguna Beach is hosting a residents “airport watch” all day on October 28, near Alta Laguna Park, to track noise from planes leaving John Wayne and crossing the city.
The county is reimbursing the anti-airport El Toro Reuse Planning Authority (ETRPA) for another $120,000 of legal fees. ETRPA successfully sued the county over defects in the El Toro environmental impact report, and to obtain documents withheld from a Public Records Act request. This brings the total recovered by ETRPA to $427,000 in a series of suits brought against the county on behalf of its citizens. Taxpayers for Responsible Planning (TRP) also recovered its legal fees in a successful El Toro related lawsuit.
“Orange County is missing opportunities - and profits - at El Toro by failing to act more swiftly to expand [non-aviation] uses of the closed Marine base, Supervisor Tom Wilson is telling the county's El Toro director. But county officials said they will soon present supervisors with a variety of proposals designed to increase revenue.”
“Wilson wrote Director Rob Richardson [twice]… to ask why more progress has not been made since the county took over as landlord of the base Sept. 1. ‘I'm a little bit disturbed that time is fleeting and we haven't really, from what I can tell, done too much,’ Wilson said in an interview.”
Editor: Under Mittermeier, the county avoided, and even discouraged, using non-aviation facilities at the base, and pursued a single-minded interest in aviation reuse only. Wilson wrote to Rob Richardson to make sure that this situation was not continuing. He raised several questions on October 11. Richardson’s reply, the next day, lacked detail and prompted Wilson to write again on the 13th. His second memo is abbreviated as follows:
“Rob, thanks for responding to my first memo in a timely manner, but frankly, your response was somewhat vague and you did not provide me with the specificity I was seeking. What is the status on the “O” Club, the child care centers, the pool etc.? What about expanding the RV storage lot? You said that information on these facilities would be included in a business plan brought to the Board for consideration on November 7. I assume that you have some sort of draft documentation already prepared – I would appreciate a copy of what you have to date, including any analysis.”
“Regarding adding capacity at the stables. What have you done on that issue?”
“I also asked for a prioritized list of potential lessees for space at El Toro. Exactly what is in the pipeline? Again, I ask that you provide me a copy of that list and/or schedule, whatever its format or status.”
“Regarding use of the pool, O’ Club, RV storage, stables etc.: We have retained, and might I point out, extended Cabaco’s contract … yet we continue to under utilize their services. They have 90 or so employees…. The County is currently paying them to essentially do almost nothing. What is your plan to actively employ their services?”
“What is your timeline on an amendment to the Master Lease to include the housing and other buildings? I thought we were working on this from day one.”
“With all due respect Rob, we must act more deliberately to bring on line and/or increase the value of the assets we currently have control of at the base immediately. I do not feel that has happened, nor does it appear to be on the horizon in the near future. We have a responsibility to the general fund to fully utilize the assets at the base now so that we can begin to offset the expenses of maintaining the base.”
“Orange County has been so preoccupied with the proposed El Toro airport that it has no real strategy for dealing with the forthcoming expiration of flight and passenger restrictions at John Wayne Airport in 2005… The important thing now … is to begin addressing the John Wayne situation more directly. To date, there has been remarkably little leadership from the county, or cooperation across city lines.” Click for the entire editorial.
“The complicating factor now is Measure F. If upheld, it likely would kill an El Toro airport, and also complicate any expansion of John Wayne Airport, by requiring plans to be approved by two-thirds of voters.”
Editor: The Times shows its long time bias in favor of some aviation use of El Toro, stating, “[The county has] left unexplored more modest El Toro aviation alternatives that might have alleviated pressure on John Wayne Airport. Options dismissed out of hand were a general aviation or small air facility at El Toro that might have stood a chance of winning community acceptance.” Community acceptance is wishful thinking. The Times ignores the fact that small airports, even general aviation airports, such as John Wayne once was, tend to grow into bigger airports.
“Federal Aviation Administration officials are analyzing the El Toro airport only as it is proposed by the county, and will not review or recommend any alternatives to that plan, according to FAA staff.” The comments were made in an October 4 meeting that included Supervisors Chuck Smith and Tom Wilson.
“FAA officials said they are studying how to fit El Toro into the regional airspace under the county plan for departures to the east and north, according to a county memo on the meeting.” Herman Bliss, head of the Western-Pacific Airports Division indicated that his office is not studying alternate plans such as the V and McGowan plans or other approaches to a so-called “small community friendly airport”.
“They said it is not their role to recommend different designs, and that the county must have title to the base before it can change its plan.” Editor: Then watch out!
Other Register news today includes: “’Great Park’ at closed base could mean big money, report states. Irvine City study projects $20 million a year from housing and other uses.” We will be hearing much more, in months ahead, about the economic self-sufficiency of a park and related non-aviation development on the base, as an airport alternative.
Also, “Wildlife activists cover new ground” takes a closer look at impacts of lawsuits over endangered species, including the fairy shrimp habitat on the MCAS El Toro property.
"Both candidates for the mayor of San Diego, Ron Roberts and Dick Murphy, support a new airport to replace Lindbergh Field." Both suggest using a small part of Camp Pendleton to build a modern overseas airport, with Orange County, to serve the region.
Candidate Ron Roberts says, "I think the major piece of missing infrastructure in San Diego today is a full-service airport. By that I mean a real international airport, an airport with runways that are of adequate length, 12,000-foot-long runways that are separated so that they can have multiple operations, parallel operations going on. Which means they have to be spaced 4,500 feet apart. We're talking about a real airport, the kind of airport you see serving major cities all over this world."
" I think that you have an incredible opportunity … for an international airport serving a market area [in Orange County and San Diego of] … maybe 6 million people, not including Tijuana."
"For the last probably three years, I've been having quiet, private discussions with members of the Board of Supervisors in Orange County to talk about the possibility… I can tell you that there are at least two supervisors, and I think a third, who are very interested in the possibility of a joint airport with San Diego… The supervisor that was pushing that the hardest up there is in some areas very close to me. I told him at some point if that doesn't work out, Jim Silva, we'd love to have your help and maybe look at the state regionally and see what we can do."
"We're talking about something that could be maybe 5,000 or 6,000 acres, possibly being on a portion of Camp Pendleton, which is 126,000 acres. So, that's one possibility. Other discussions have included going out into Riverside County, which I personally feel is too far for San Diego. But when we started these discussions, if you recall Orange County was pursuing their El Toro solution. And that has largely because of political actions have been taken off the table for them."
Candidate Dick Murphy says, "The Camp Pendleton idea is to operate what I would call Southern California International Airport on a piece of Camp Pendleton. Now, we're not talking about shutting down Camp Pendleton… But the new airport could be a joint venture with Orange County. Orange County has the same problems with John Wayne Airport that we have. I would envision that airport being primarily an international-transcontinental airport like Dulles. So, basically, anybody out of San Diego County or Orange County or Riverside who wanted to fly overseas or to Washington D.C. could fly out of that airport."
"The way I think it would have to be done is for the entire Southern California congressional delegation to decide that this was their goal… Southern California represents a big block of the members of Congress. If they could be convinced that this was in the best interest of the Southern California region, that's where I see it happening."
For more complete quotes from the candidates click here.
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“El Toro airport advocates seeking to overturn Measure F said Monday that an Irvine councilman inadvertently has given them ammunition in their legal challenge to the anti-airport initiative. Lawyers for pro-airport plaintiffs on Friday filed a motion asking [Judge] Otero to consider one more thing: comments by Irvine Councilman Mike Ward two weeks ago that they see as proof that Measure F violates state law limiting initiatives to a single subject.”
"’If we thought Measure F would have won with just airport on there, we'd have put it in there,’ Ward said, according to a transcript of a council discussion on the proposed jail expansion of the James A. Musick Facility.” Ward was referring to why jails and toxic landfills were included in Measure F.
Editor: Ward was not a participant in the drafting of Measure F. He was a member of the Citizens for Safe and Healthy Communities Executive Committee and a member of the CSHC Campaign Oversight sub-committee that ran the Yes on F campaign.
ETRPA attorney Rich Jacobs called the late submission "exceedingly unusual and odd". The motion for judicial notice by the pro-airport side is probably little more than a move to grab some undeserved newspaper space - and to meddle in Irvine council politics.
“Next month, [Larry] Agran will be elected mayor of Irvine. With no opponent to distract him and no need to fund a campaign, he is concentrating on pulling the three other candidates in his slate onto the council for a ruling majority… Some worry that, given his aggressive style, Agran could crack the unity of South County as it battles plans for an airport at the closed El Toro Marine base.”
"’If Larry's slate gets elected and takes the majority, it has the potential to break up the South County coalition,’ said Councilman Mike Ward, who had planned to challenge Agran for mayor but ultimately decided he didn't have the money to bankroll such a campaign.”
“Agran said he's being criticized for taking a more aggressive anti-airport stance… Agran said he is just another soldier in the fight to prevent the former Marine base from becoming an international airport… Agran said concerns that he'll have a corrosive effect on anti-airport unity are ‘nonsense,’ and vows that he will defer the lead anti-airport role to [ETRPA] the eight-city coalition that is leading the charge against El Toro.”
“At issue is whether Irvine, which has spent more than $10 million fighting an airport, will jump tracks and get behind Agran's dream for the closed Marine base: the Great Park. Agran has made city support for the park one of his central goals. Other South County cities back the Millennium Plan, a blend of parkland, high-tech businesses and homes. Agran once backed that plan too.”
“Lake Forest Mayor Richard T. Dixon, said South County has a vision for the 4,700-acre Marine base that is broader than Agran's notion of using the land for a sprawling park complete with university and museum. ‘Those of us opposed to an airport are interested in a nonaviation reuse,’ Dixon said. ‘I would expect him not to move forward in a dramatic way without consulting and discussing first with the entire coalition.’”
Editor: The anti-airport groups’ vision for El Toro is a work in progress, continuously blending the best features of the Millennium Plan and the Great Park concept in an ongoing effort to develop a non-aviation reuse that meets the needs and wishes of the residents of the county. Post your reaction to the Times article.
"A curfew barring nighttime jet flights at John Wayne Airport could succumb to the pressing demands of more passengers and cargo if a new airport at El Toro isn't built, according to a consultant working with Orange County airport planners."
"The curfew would have to be lifted to accommodate the projected growth in local airport use by 2020 if John Wayne remains the only commercial airport in Orange County, an analysis completed late last year concludes. 'You'd need to eliminate the curfew' to handle the increased traffic, consultant Warren Sprague of P&D Aviation said this week. Sprague's conclusions--triggered by the court-ordered release of planning documents last week--raise new questions about the county's ability to withstand pressure to provide more airport space.
Editor: An August 11, 1998 memo from Sprague to other county consultants shows that elimination of the curfew would add only 7 percent more flights, with cargo operations increasing the most.
"Without El Toro, John Wayne Airport is the only game in town--a particularly ominous situation for nearby residents, since a limit on the number of passengers, as well as other restrictions, expires in 2005. County officials insist that the airport's curfew, which bars commercial takeoffs from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. and arrivals from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., can remain in place even after the passenger cap lifts.
"The focus on El Toro and John Wayne has intensified … with the release of an economic study prepared for the Southern California Assn. of Governments. The study concluded that the controversial expansion of Los Angeles International Airport isn't critical for regional economic growth--as long as other area airports… are built. Residents near LAX seized on the SCAG report as ammunition that other parts of Southern California must handle more of the load, particularly Orange County. The city of El Segundo has sued Los Angeles over plans to expand LAX beyond its current 65 million passengers a year."
"El Toro airport backers said demand for airports is increasing in Southern California, and that more runways and terminal space must be built. 'You can't stick your head in the sand and pretend the demand is going to go away,' said David Ellis, a consultant for pro-El Toro forces in Newport Beach. 'We haven't built what we need to in this basin since LAX was expanded for the 1984 Olympics'," he said, ignoring the recent expansion of Ontario Airport.
"Meg Waters, spokeswoman for the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, said, 'What we disagree on is where airports should be built. Our philosophy is, put the airports where they're wanted and needed, not where they're not.'"
"El Toro foes insist that John Wayne Airport can handle Orange County's future needs without condemning more land. A smaller expansion plan analyzed by the county predicts the current airport could accommodate 14 million passengers a year and about 180,000 tons of cargo by 2020. The curfew could stay put, with about 242 takeoffs a day." See the story below, on John Wayne compared with San Diego's Lindbergh Field.
Click to post your comments on the issue.
Passenger traffic at JWA was down slightly in August, compared to the prior year, but year to date passenger utilization is up by 6.8 percent. The airport saw 16.8 percent fewer flight operations so far this year, primarily due to a 23 percent decrease in the number of general aviation (private) flights.
A new comparison has been posted, showing striking physical similarities between John Wayne and San Diego’s Lindbergh Field. Both airports are small, each with 500-acre sites, and both have a single commercial runway. Both are in locations with nearby development and are required to operate under noise abatement curfews.
However, Lindbergh – without John Wayne’s artificial constraints - is currently handling more than twice as many passengers, and six times as much cargo as its Orange County counterpart.
“A preliminary study on the future development of airports in five Southern California counties predicts that the regional economy in 2020 would be essentially the same with or without an El Toro airport. Within Orange County, however, El Toro would have a wide impact, moving from a low of $1 billion in economic output without an airport to $6.9 billion with the airport and high-speed rail, the study says.”
“The final significance of the study remains uncertain. Officials who commissioned it said Thursday it should not have been released yet, and their own staff has not yet seen it. The study was conducted for the Southern California Association of Governments as a part of a larger Regional Transportation Plan to be released next year. A draft of that report is expected next month.”
“SCAG officials said the report was leaked by opponents of expansion of Los Angeles International Airport and should not be considered on its own… Lake Forest Councilman Richard Dixon, a SCAG member, said the economy would not suffer without El Toro. ‘There are other airports in the region that would be utilized, specifically areas like March and Ontario. Places that want more aviation.’”
James Campbell, an aide to Board Supervisor Charles V. Smith, and frequent spokesman for airport proponents in Orange County, “said the report does not decrease the need for El Toro. ‘The fact remains, you can't push our demand to other (counties) for others to handle,’ he said. ‘We need to be autonomous and handle our own needs.’” See Wall Street Journal article below.
A viewer sends us a great photo of the El Toro approach from the air, plus we revisit a picture from the June 1999 flight demo.
The latest photo, from a JWA to Denver flight, shows clearly that planes are cutting across South County. Your comments and experiences?
“Southern California's economy will get a similar boost from an airport expansion, whether it's at giant Los Angeles International or a small, regional airport, a new study says. As a result, the study recommends, planners should focus on expanding airports according to which projects would have the least impact on traffic and the environment. "Air transportation is important, but so are a lot of other things," says Skip Hull, an economist and vice president at San Diego-based CIC Research Inc., which conducted the study for the Southern California Association of Governments.
The $100,000 study comes at a time when officials in Los Angeles and Orange County are working on plans for multibillion-dollar airport expansions, partly because bigger airports bring new jobs and businesses.
Click here for the entire story.
Post your comments on the message board.
In a small article, the Register reports that, "the supposed rapprochement between the board's pro- and anti-airport factions is looking more and more illusory. Supervisors suggested that a new era of cooperation loomed after Mittermeier left and county lobbyist Rob Richardson was named to run El Toro planning. But Chairman Charles V. Smith's move to substitute his own candidate for the Airport Land Use Commission [Newport Beach pro-El Toro leader Tom Naughton] in place of Supervisor Tom Wilson's choice -- airport foe and current commissioner Charles Zoffer - shows that the deep divisions remain."
"After Wilson's bitter objections, Smith last week delayed by three months a vote on Zoffer's selection and suggested that a compromise could be worked out. But Wilson said afterward that stepping on his prerogatives was no way to compromise - and that Smith would regret the precedent he set."
Editor: The Airport Land Use Commission decides whether proposed developments in airport environs are consistent with aviation use. ALUC recently voted against Irvine Company plans for homes in Irvine's "Planning Area 17", presumably because the development would be in the way of alternate El Toro flight paths being considered by airport proponents, such as the so-called V Plan. The City of Irvine was able to override ALUC and approve the project.
The pro-airport commission is being sued, by the cities of Irvine and Lake Forest, because the pro-airport members refuse to eliminate restrictions from ALUC regulations that only applied when El Toro and Tustin were operating air bases.
Click here for previous news stories
