Costa Mesa to mull supporting El Toro plan
Andrew Glazer
COSTA MESA -- At its meeting tonight, the City Council will discuss if
and how it should be more involved in the debate over county plans to
open a commercial airport at El Toro.
“Costa Mesa has got to come on board with a stronger statement about the
way we envision Orange County,” said Councilwoman Heather Somers. Somers
said that until now, the city has been in an “airport
information-gathering mode.”
The council is scheduled to decide whether to officially endorse the
position of the Orange County Regional Airport Authority, a 15-city
coalition in favor of an airport at the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air
Station, according to a report prepared by city officials.
In October 1998, the city rejoined the authority, several years after
ending its membership due to budget constraints. While Costa Mesa has
been pro-airport, it has not specifically endorsed an airport plan.
The authority supports a primarily domestic airport, offering some
international service to Canada, Mexico and Central America, according to
the report. It favors an airport designed to accommodate 18 million
passengers each year by 2010, if population patterns continue as
predicted. The airport would be held to the same nighttime noise
restrictions as John Wayne Airport.
The council’s discussion about the airport comes over a year after
Councilman Joe Erikson asked it to consider supporting a similar
proposal.
But his proposal never reached a vote.
“It didn’t even get a second,” he said.
His proposal differed from the authority’s by restricting the number of
passengers traveling from the airport to 8.4 million per year, the same
number as the annual cap on John Wayne Airport. That restriction expires
in 2005, when the county will reevaluate the restriction.
Somers and Mayor Gary Monahan said they withheld their support of
Erikson’s proposal because of that restriction.
They say population growth in South County has created a demand for the
airport that far exceeds 8.4 million passengers. They fear that if the
county doesn’t open an airport at El Toro, or restricts the number of
passengers to 8.4 million, it will be forced to expand John Wayne
Airport, which could force residents in the way of expanded runways and
terminals to give up their homes for the project.
“If El Toro doesn’t fly, then John Wayne will.” Monahan said.
While Erikson said he isn’t stuck on the 8.4-million-passenger
restriction he proposed last year, he said he thinks the authority’s
proposal for 18 million passengers is unfair to residents of the areas
surrounding El Toro.
The City Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. tonight at City Hall, 77 Fair Dr.
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