Safe and Healthy Communities

December 24, 1999

Contact: Leonard Kranser, CSHC Communications Director 949-499-5567 or Jeff Metzger, CSHC Chairman 949-454-1196

Have a great holiday.

Airport EIR Could Be First Step Required by Measure F

An El Toro Airport Environmental Impact Report, (EIR), released by the County Thursday, could be the first step in the three-step approval process required by passage of Measure F. Measure F, popularly known as the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative, requires the County to 1.) Complete an EIR, 2.) Hold public hearings in every impacted city, and 3.) Then submit the airport plan to the voters for approval.

This is in marked contrast to existing procedures that provide for only the first of the three steps. Without the passage of Measure F, which is on the March 7, 2000 ballot, three members of the Board of Supervisors have the power to accept the environmental impact report and proceed with the multi-billion dollar airport project. Orange County residents currently have no right to vote on the airport costs, impacts, and alternatives that are only beginning to be gleaned from a 40-volume, 10,000-page report from County consultants. Airport costs have almost doubled from previous estimates.

A Yes vote on Measure F would reform the procedures so as to give voters the right to choose what becomes of the 4,700-acre closed Marine base.

Susan Withrow, a member of Citizens for Safe and Healthy Communities, and Chair of the anti-airport El Toro Reuse Planning Authority (ETRPA) commented that, "The 1999 UCI Annual Public Opinion poll shows that more residents oppose the conversion of El Toro to a commercial airport than support it. Only 30 percent of the public approve of the way the County is handling the issue while 42 percent give the Board of Supervisors low scores for their handling of El Toro. That's why the people must be allowed their democratic right to make the final decision."

A YES vote on Measure F will require the county to obtain voter approval for new or expanded airports, large jails within one-half mile of residential neighborhoods, and hazardous landfills. It will reform the County's planning process by mandating that the environmental impacts, costs, and alternatives to major harmful projects must be disclosed at public hearings in each city, and then approved by two-thirds of the voters.

To obtain a copy of the initiative, call 949-768-4583 or log on to www.safe-and-healthy.org.