No Dip Found in Housing Value Near El Toro

In a finding sure to intensify the fiery debate over a proposed El Toro airport in Orange County, a study concluded that housing values within a 6.5-mile radius of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station haven’t suffered when compared with other parts of Orange County. The Anaheim-based information services firm Experian said its study of residential property values from January 1996 through February 1997 found that prices of houses and condominiums within that radius appreciated 0.7%, while prices in the rest of the county rose 1.1%. The gap is not statistically significant, the firm said. But the anti-airport group Taxpayers for Responsible Planning denounced the study as ill-timed and misleading. The current plan, a scaled-back version of the one originally envisioned, calls for the military base to be converted into a commercial airport capable of handling between 10 million and 25 million passengers a year.