NEWS - November 2004

Click here for last month's news stories

KPCC.org, November 30, 2004
"AirTalk Goes to Orange County to Discuss the CenterLine and Great Park Projects"

"Join AirTalk on Tuesday, November 30th, [tonight] when host Larry Mantle travels to UC Irvine to moderate panel discussions on two major development projects in Orange County: the controversial CenterLine Light Rail Project and the Great Park in Irvine. The program will be taped in the University Club at UC Irvine, located at 801 East Peltason Drive in Irvine. The public is invited to attend. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. The program will run from 7-9 p.m. Please R.S.V.P. by e-mailing airtalk@kpcc.org or by calling 626-585-7768."

Great Park panelists will be Irvine City Council member and Great Park Corp President Chris Mears, environmental attorney Greg Hurley - who consulted for the AWG and now works with prospective El Toro developers - and Dean Gould, the BRAC office Base Closure Manager for El Toro.

The radio program will air on KPCC 89.3 FM on Thursday morning between 10:00 AM and noon.

San Francisco Chronicle, November 28, 2004, posted November 29
"Without new airport, unfriendly skies for Bay Area"

William F. Shea is a former associate administrator for airports with the Federal Aviation Administration and a former chief of Caltrans Aeronautics. In this op-ed, he makes a case for an additional Bay area airport where capacity is already limited. His opinion piece is relevant to Southern California's need to fully utilize our existing airports and develop capacity at Palmdale, Ontario and other Inland Empire airbases.

"Some people in the North and East Bay have reserved flights out of Sacramento, due to lack of seats from Bay Area airports during peak holiday periods. At the three Bay Area terminals, runway availability is limited, and the area can handle only so many flights at any given time."

"According to the Governor's Office of Planning and Research, California is expected to have 51 million people by 2040. The Bay Area, where much of that population growth will occur, can expect more than 110 million air passengers annually by 2020 -- double what it is today."

"Ultimately, crowded airports and the jammed highways providing access to them are going to get worse."

"The region's unmet aviation needs are in danger of spiraling out of control unless county and state policy-makers become more pro-active now and make plans to provide a new airport."

El Toro Info Site report, November 27, 2004
BRAC 2005

The Pentagon is planning a new round of base closures to be announced next year. The LA Times lists the Los Angeles Air Force base and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar as "frequently mentioned for possible closure" in the next round.

Loss of the LA Air Force operation  - an office complex in El Segundo that manages the acquisition of spacecraft - would have a dramatic impact on that city and on the Los Angeles economy. The base employs roughly 5,000, primarily civilians, who reside in El Segundo and nearby communities. It generates tens of thousands of support jobs. Closure of the complex could force reexamination of their positions by some who oppose LAX expansion - a project with the potential to replace part of the economic loss.

MCAS Miramar is on the short list of locations considered for a new San Diego County commercial airport. If it closes, it likely will be elevated on the list of sites presented to voters for final approval in 2006. Regional planners have been cautious about pursuing Miramar for fear that their interest in civilian reuse might encourage the Pentagon to close the base. Click for a G2Mil Quarterly article favoring Miramar's closure.

A major new airport in San Diego will decrease the number of international travelers using LAX and reduce airfreight trucked to LAX.

MCAS Tustin was on the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list and El Toro was named for closure in 1993.

OC Register, November 23, 2004 posted November 24
"Airport EIRs thrown out"
"Supervisors retract their approvals of the reports that supported the El Toro project, signaling an end to the years-long legal contest."

"Calling it the final 'nail in the coffin' for an airport at El Toro, county Supervisors today rescinded two key environmental impact reports approved in the mid-1990s that attempted to pave the way for the project." See yesterday's website report below.

"After years of heated political battles between supporters and opponents of the airport project, voters killed the project in March 2002, with 58 percent supporting a rezoning of the former Marine air base into park space.

"Gary Thompson, a Rancho Santa Margarita councilman who worked with [ETRPA] a coalition of south county cities opposing an airport, said the supervisors' action would . . .    'officially end all litigation against El Toro'".

"Yet some airport activists told supervisors that the battle over the land could reappear."

"Dana Point resident Leonard Kranser, who edits a Web site on the El Toro battle, warned supervisors that efforts in Sacramento to create a regional airport authority could allow airport proponents to revisit the El Toro site. He called on supervisors to place their lobbyists in Sacramento 'on alert.'"

The Times reports on November 24 that "Action Ends 2 El Toro Suits"

"After having spent $55 million over eight years to study what to do with the closed El Toro Marine base, Orange County supervisors on Tuesday rescinded two massive environmental reviews that examined building an airport at the site."

Click here for both articles.

El Toro Info Site report, November 23, 2004
Airport EIRs rescinded

This morning, the Orange County Board of Supervisors rescinded Environmental Impact Reports 563 and 573 and the Community Reuse Plan for an airport at El Toro. The EIR's had designated aviation reuse as the "preferred alternative" for the land.

Supervisor Tom Wilson said that the EIR's "should never have been approved in the first place". Until Supervisor Chris Norby unseated Cynthia Coad, Wilson was a patient spokesman for the Board's original anti-airport minority.

Removal of the environmental studies will lead to settlement of the last of the El Toro lawsuits.

The vote was Wilson, Norby and Bill Campbell in favor. Recording votes against the motion were Supervisor Jim Silva and Chuck Smith who is thought by some still to advocate for an airport at the former base.

Daily Breeze, November 22, 2004
"Assemblyman-elect Gordon reveals agenda for South Bay"

"SACRAMENTO -- In many respects, incoming Assemblyman Mike Gordon's agenda is being designed to build on his activism as mayor of El Segundo."

"The Democrat plans to needle Los Angeles International Airport."

"Gordon said he will not rush measures into print, but has outlined some general issues he wants to pursue this year."

"An outspoken LAX watchdog, Gordon said he plans to push for a regional authority to guide airport growth in Southern California. 'Clearly one of the things that is lacking is the ability to have some sort of cohesive planning,' he said."

Click for the entire article.

OC Register, November 21, 2004
"Woodbury rising."

"People are buying ideas and dreams in the fields north of the old El Toro air base.  Houses will be ready for move-in by spring."

"Woodbury is part of a 7,700-acre sector [of Irvine] north of the old base called the Northern Sphere; plans call for 12,500 dwellings eventually. The land had been undesirable for housing because of its proximity to the base runways."

Website Editor: Airport proponents fought against annexation of the property into the city and the Airport Land Use Commission opposes residential development near the former base.

El Toro Info Site report, November 21, 2004
On this date in El Toro history

On November 21, 2001, in a crucial court decision, the Fourth District Court of Appeals in San Diego overturned an earlier adverse ruling by Judge James Gray of Newport Beach, and allowed Measure W to make it onto the ballot.

The lawsuit against the measure had been brought by Bruce Nestande and Citizens for Jobs and the Economy in an effort to block a public vote on the popular OC Central Park initiative. Judge Gray had agreed with petitioners that the County-written ballot title and summary did not adequately describe the initiative.

Because of this appeals court decision, the reluctant pro-El Toro Board of Supervisors was required to place the initiative on the ballot for the March 5, 2002 election. The rest is history and a reminder of how many times easily forgotten events result in seismic outcomes.

El Toro Info Site report, November 18, 2004
ALUC does the predictable

Tonight, the Airport Land Use Commission continued to pester Aliso Viejo. The second of three planned residential projects in the city was turned down because of non-existent El Toro Marine Corps jet noise. City officials patiently played along with the wasteful delaying process. They will override the ALUC finding in January.

Only Commissioners Tom O'Malley and Melody Carruth opposed the commission action. Carruth commented on  ALUC's Mad Hatter logic, saying in dismay, "I feel like I am in some parallel world here."

ALUC Chairman Gerald Bresnahan justified the commission action. "It will take a fair bit of fortune telling to know that there will not be an airport there when these buildings are built."

Daily Breeze, November 18, 2004
"Holiday joy could be scarce at LAX"

"Los Angeles International Airport is preparing for the longest and possibly most congested Thanksgiving travel period in its 76-year history."

"Airport officials say they expect the onslaught of holiday travelers to last 11 days - from Friday through Nov. 29 - compared with the traditional five days of commuter chaos. Record low air fares are primarily responsible for the anticipated stretching of the Thanksgiving travel time, they say."

"Visitors could stumble into an LAX that is more crowded than ever. Passenger volume . . . has climbed to its highest level since the 2001 terror attacks, but up to 40 percent of the space in the skinny airline ticketing lobbies is occupied by minivan-size explosive detection machines."

"LAX . . . serves the most departing and arriving passengers and processes the most luggage of any airport in the country. [Officials expect] 11 percent more passengers than in 2003 but 10 percent below the record levels of 2000."

Click here for more . . .

El Toro Info Site report, November 17, 2004
BOS to drive one more nail in airport coffin

On Tuesday, November 23, the Board of Supervisors will vote on rescinding two aviation Environmental Impact Reports approved in 1996 and 2001 and the El Toro airport Community Reuse Plan submitted to Washington in 1996. The board action will eliminate the possibility that the existing environmental studies could be taken off the shelf and used in connection with any renewed push to locate a commercial airport at the former base. The need for new EIR's would add years to any future aiport planning.

Technical issues delayed earlier rescinding of the reports. ETRPA and County lawyers cooperated in crafting the board's resolution.

As stated in the Board Agenda, adoption of the proposed resolution would:

1. Rescind the certification of Environmental Impact Report No. 563 for the MCAS El Toro Community Reuse Plan for a commercial airport;

2. Rescind approval of the aviation Community Reuse Plan;

3. Rescind certification of Environmental Impact Report No. 573 for the Aviation System Master Plan and Base Transition Plan; and

4. Reaffirm your Board's prior repeal of the resolutions approving the Aviation System Master Plan and Base Transition Plan for a commercial airport at MCAS El Toro.

El Toro Info Site report, November 16, 2004
Controversy over Great Park Conservancy financial secrecy

The Irvine World News, November 11, 2004, headlines "Council cuts off ties with Great Park nonprofit . . . "Conservancy refuses to share donor information with the city."

"The [Irvine] City Council took action . . . to prohibit the city from doing business with the Great Park Conservancy until the nonprofit organization provides an audited financial statement."

"The actions passed with Mayor Larry Agran and Councilwoman Beth Krom dissenting."

"Agran said that the nonprofits that actually receive money from the city are required to be forthcoming with their financial records. But because the conservancy does not receive money from the city, it is under no obligation to supply that information, Agran said."

"Although the conservancy has no legal obligation to share the information with the city, other nonprofits that work within the city, including the Barclay Theater, Jamboree Housing, and Families Forward, have always been forthcoming with their financial information, said Councilwoman Christina Shea."

Website Editor: The bitter city elections are over. Mayor Larry Agran's opposition to the airport and championing of the Great Park project won him many supporters. The voters weighed the issues and decided by democratic process that Agran and his political allies will regain a majority on the City Council.

As a result of the election, and with the impending departure of City Councilman Chris Mears from the Chairmanship of the Great Park Corp, Agran also strengthens his control of that public entity created to issue contracts for development of the Great Park.

In addition, Agran allies, including his fundraiser Ed Dornan, dominate the board of the Great Park Conservancy. The Conservancy hopes to tap into some of the GPC's development business.

Given the interrelationships between the city, the public GPC, and the very private Conservancy, we hope that the participants will adopt the highest possible standards for making their transactions transparent to the public. Voluntarily revealing who funds the Conservancy and more importantly who receives the money seems like a good place to start. We hope that the City Council will not reverse last week's decision when its new majority takes control.

Los Angeles Daily News, November 11, 2004 posted November 15
"City mulls maglev effort"

"The [Santa Clarita] City Council is considering joining a a 13-city group working to build a high-speed railway that could connect Palmdale with Orange County [Anaheim] and LAX."

"The Santa Clarita council voiced support Tuesday of Orangeline Development Authority's proposed maglev -- magnetic levitation -- train line, which backers said could begin operation in 2011."

"The Orangeline Authority, whose members include Palmdale and such south Los Angeles County cities as Cerritos, Downey, Paramount and Artesia, have invested about $10 million since 1999 to conduct a joint study of the 30-mile high-speed rail route with the Southern California Association of Governments."

El Toro Info Site report, November 14, 2004
ALUC has AV jump through hoops

Last month, Airport Land Use Commission Executive Director Joan Golding put off outlining steps for rescinding the El Toro Airport Land Use Plan (AELUP). She claimed staff was "booked solid" with other "priorities" in preparation for ALUC's November and December meetings.

The just-published agenda for the November 18 meeting includes these time-wasting items.

Item 1. A review of the City of Aliso Viejo's "Vantis" plan for 409 dwelling units plus office space. ALUC staff recommends a finding of inconsistency with the El Toro AELUP because "the entire project site is located within the 65 dB CNEL Contour Line  (Noise Impact Zone 1)" for the former Marine base.

Item 2. A report on last month's finding that the Aliso Viejo's "Glenwood" plan is likewise "inconsistent" with the El Toro restrictions. The AV City Council subsequently voted to override the ALUC determination.  Staff proposes a response to the city defending ALUC's use of the obsolete restrictions.

This website's Editor, an alternate commissioner, has told ALUC and city planners that the El Toro Airport Environs Land Use Plan is illegal and unenforceable. The AELUP is not based on the airport owner's 20 year plan as required by California regulations. The Navy's 20 year plan is for no airport. The courts threw out a Riverside County ALUC's plan for Thermal Airport because it lacked the mandatory 20 year plan.

Union-Tribune, November 13, 2004 - updated
"Authority members search for guidelines at desert workshop"

"The group charged with selecting a site for a new [San Diego] airport began to establish crucial criteria yesterday."

"Eight members of the San Diego Regional Airport Authority board participated in what was termed a 'visioning discussion' during the first day of a two-day workshop at a Borrego Springs resort."

"The board previously pared a list of 32 candidates to seven. Those finalists are an expansion of Lindbergh Field; Miramar Marine Corps Air Station; an area to the east of Miramar; Camp Pendleton; North Island Naval Air Station; a site in the Imperial County; and March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County. Two additional sites were added later to the list, one near Campo and one near Borrego Springs. A third site, a portion of which is located in the Cleveland National Forest, was narrowly approved for consideration this month, but is not an official finalist."

Click for a November 14 update on the workshop. "Board aims at trimming list of 10 airport sites."

The Associated Press November 11, 2004
"Tentative map of California high speed rail route reviewed"

Wednesday, "California High Speed Rail Authority officials unveiled a tentative map of routes for the proposed statewide bullet train a plan that includes a 120-mile, nonstop stretch between Bakersfield and Fresno."

"That Central Valley section of the line, which was recommended by the authority's staff and unveiled Wednesday, bypasses Visalia despite the city's pleas for a stop."

"The 700-mile system, with 200 mph-plus trains, would cost about $35 billion and carry as many as 68 million passengers a year by 2020. Voters will decide a bond measure in 2006 to pay for part of the project. Construction on major parts of the electric train system could start in 2008."

"The [tentative] map included the routes from Sacramento, through the Central Valley to Bakersfield, and routes from Los Angeles' Union Station to downtown San Diego. It also included the Bay Area routes where trains are proposed to start in Oakland and at San Francisco's Transbay Terminal and run south to San Jose." A final vote on the route is scheduled for Dec. 15.

"The Authority on Wednesday tentatively approved a plan to bypass downtown San Bernardino in the proposed bullet train route from Union Station in Los Angeles to San Diego. Agency staff had recommended against a station there because it would add six minutes to travel time and cost $700 million more to build, officials said. The Inland Empire would still have stops at Ontario International Airport, March Air Force Base and UC Riverside."

Heritage Fields Media Release, November 10, 2004
"Heritage Fields update"

"Since our e-mail announcement concerning the IFB release one week ago, we have had significant activity from residential and commercial developers and prospective users alike."

The Heritage Fields website has been enhanced with the new "Heritage Fields Overview Video and Interactive Tool. This incredible feature allows you to personally experience an artistic view of the Orange County Great Park by taking a narrated 'virtual flight' over the Great Park project areas. During your eight-minute flight, you will observe computer-generated imagery of the many potential public open space, residential, and commercial use entitlement areas."

The presentation requires viewers to install the free Macromedia Flash Player, available by a link from the site.

Daily Breeze, November 9, 2004
"LAX commission OKs growth pact with El Segundo"

"The commission that runs Los Angeles International Airport voted Monday to enter into a landmark legal agreement with the city of El Segundo that would eliminate that town's opposition to modernizing LAX."

"Under a conceptual agreement the two cities have discussed, LAX reportedly will commit to limiting boarding gates to prevent the airport from growing beyond its current theoretical capacity of 78.9 million annual passengers. The city-run airport agency also will provide El Segundo with money for soundproofing and transportation improvements, and further study alternatives to moving a runway 50 feet south to accommodate a new taxiway."

"Airlines . . .  said they would oppose capacity constraints at LAX."

"Representatives from Los Angeles and El Segundo refused to discuss details of the potential agreement," reached in closed session. Click for more . . .

El Toro Info Site report, November 7, 2004
SCAG contemplates regional airport authority concept

Excerpts from the just received minutes of the SCAG Aviation Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC) meeting of October 14, 2004:

"An ATAC member asked about the next SCAG Aviation Plan . . . SCAG management is focusing on implementation and that might be a key aspect of the next Aviation plan. Staff is surveying airport authorities across the nation to examine how they work with governmental units, transportation agencies and other airports. The goal is to determine what might work best for the SCAG region and present that to either a reconstituted Aviation Task Force or SCAG's Transportation and Communications Committee and what may be the best process for implementing the Aviation Plan."

"It is believed that she [LAX area City Council member Cindy Miscikowski] is working with the County offices towards that [a new regional authority]. There is intense opposition to an airport authority, particularly in South Orange County."

Website Editor: And other areas should resist the concept. Click for one of the newspaper clippings included in the SCAG meeting packet.

Daily Breeze, November 6, 2004 - updated
"LAX growth limit deal may be OK'd on Monday"
"Airport commissioners may vote on agreement with El Segundo that would put a cap on airport growth. The city wants studies of impacts and plan to move runway."

"Officials from Los Angeles and El Segundo have been discussing a binding legal agreement for months that would include provisions to keep LAX from growing beyond its current theoretical capacity of 78.9 million annual passengers, and provide the little city south of the airport with money for transportation improvements and soundproofing."

"El Segundo also wants studies to be done of alternatives to moving a runway 50 feet south to accommodate a new taxiway."

"Even if it's approved by local governments, the agreement likely would face opposition from airlines, which question the legality of any move to limit LAX's capacity."

"It also would have to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. Donn Walker, an FAA spokesman, has said that capacity constraints in general are not allowed."

Website Editor: The matter will be discussed by the Airport Commission on Monday in Closed Session under the heading of  "Anticipated litigation".

Click for the entire report.

OC Register, November 4, 2004
"Uncounted ballots still vital"

"As many as a dozen tight election races [including the Irvine City Council race] . . . could hang in the balance as county election officials scrambled Wednesday to figure out just how many absentee, provisional and paper ballots cast at polls remained uncounted from Tuesday's election.

"There were 490,000 absentee ballots requested and 153,884 had been counted by Election Day."

"In addition, there are 1,300 boxes with paper ballots cast at precincts by voters who did not use the electronic voting equipment. And registrar officials estimate there are also 40,000 provisional ballots cast by voters whose status must be individually verified before their votes can be counted."

"Local registrars have 28 days after the election to finish counting absentees, as well as verifying voter status on provisional ballots. However, registrar officials should be able to make a significant dent in the number of uncounted votes within a week."

Website Editor: Today's Irvine World News chronicles the continuation of the Agran-led Great Park project. Tallying results from the city is complicated by ballot confusion over whether voters were to choose two or three council candidates.  Click for more . . .

El Toro Info Site report, November 3, 2004 - updated and revised 10:00 AM
El Toro related election early results

The following information is tentative subject to completion of the count of absentee, provisional and paper ballots. Countywide, approximately 500,000 absentee ballots were sent out. In Irvine's case, 30,000 ballots were mailed out and only 9,500 have been counted to this hour.

In the city of Irvine, Larry Agran ally Beth Krom may have upset Mike Ward for Mayor. Krom received 44% of the vote so far to Ward's 40% with the balance going to minor candidates. Agran, who is termed out as Mayor, apparently is winning a seat on the City Council to maintain his 3-2 majority control of the Council. Steven Choi, a member of the Irvine Unified School District Board of Education, may be the only candidate from the anti-Agran "Irvine First" slate to be elected. There are enough uncounted votes to change this early result.

In the 1st Supervisorial District, where Chuck Smith is termed out, Lou Correa defeated Bruce Broadwater. Correa, once pro-El Toro, is pragmatic and moderate on the airport. He helped to obtain the Governor's veto of the pro-El Toro Nakano bill. Broadwater, the OCRAA rep from Garden Grove, is closer to Smith on the issue. He once called ETRPA "a mean-spirited organization."

Preliminary OC election results can be found on the County Registrar's webpage.

In the 53rd Assembly District near LAX, Democrat Mike Gordon defeated Republican Greg Hill for a seat in the Legislature. Gordon favors having Sacramento mandate a regional airport authority. Its purpose would be to prevent expanded use of LAX and push air traffic onto other airports in the region.

El Toro Info Site report, November 2, 2004 - updated
Invitations for Bids released

The Department of the Navy, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), and Colliers Seeley International announced today the issuance of the “Invitation for Bids” or “IFB” for El Toro. The property will be sold via a public online auction commencing on January 5, 2005.

The IFB describes the property for sale, specifies online auction requirements and provides relevant notices, covenants, terms, conditions and other instructions that govern the sale transaction. The minimum opening bids for the four parcels total $525,000,000.

An electronic version of the IFB is also available for download on the Heritage Fields website.

Release of the IFB is an important milestone in the non-aviation disposal of the former airbase.