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.