Wilson wants guarantee on airport limits

Jasmine Lee

Supervisor Tom Wilson said that federal legislation may be the only hope

for limiting John Wayne expansion after 2005, when a settlement agreement

regulating the airport expires.

El Toro advocates, however, still maintain that a second county airport

is their best bet for restricting noise and flights.A 1985 settlement

agreement signed by Newport Beach and two citizen groups set a curfew and

stringent limits on the number of flights and the level of noise at John

Wayne. Because of the tight regulations, the 500-acre airport, which sees

about 8 million passengers a year, is one of the nation’s quietest

airfields.

County officials in a recently published report said ordinances, put in

place over the years by the Board of Supervisors, could continue to

regulate noise levels and expansion at John Wayne after 2005.

But Wilson, who represents Newport Beach and South County cities, said he

doesn’t want to take the chance that those local laws may change or be

overruled by federal regulations.

He said no one can predict how future supervisors may govern the airport.

Wilson warned that those who want to keep the limits at John Wayne,

including himself, should be acting now.

“I have said, in no uncertain terms, I think we should start today if

we’re going to have them remain in place,” Wilson said. “I’m ready to

link arms with the Newport Beach City Council and the Airport Working

Group.”

Wilson, who opposes building an airport at El Toro, has been criticized

by locals, including the members of Newport Beach-based Airport Working

Group.

“In Newport Beach, I’m viewed as the guy who is against El Toro,” Wilson

said. “Well, I’m also the guy who is against expansion at John Wayne.”

The Airport Working Group is a grass-roots organization working to limit

jet noise at John Wayne Airport and was one of the parties responsible

for putting the regulations in place. David Ellis, a consultant for the

group, said group members support all efforts to keep the airport quiet.

“It’s fair to say that we will do anything we can to continue the

constraints at John Wayne, whether it’s at the local or federal level,”

Ellis said.

Ellis said the surest way to prevent John Wayne expansion is not to

solicit federal lawmakers, but to build an airport at El Toro. The county

has proposed to build a $2.9-billion commercial airfield at the closed El

Toro Marine base.

Supervisor Jim Silva, who represents Costa Mesa, said he, too, believes

an airport at El Toro would prevent John Wayne from growing. Without a

second airport, the county may eventually have no choice but to use John

Wayne to service its growing air traffic demand, Silva said.

Alternative plans in the county’s environmental analysis of the El Toro

airport project could potentially triple both the size of John Wayne and

the number of its annual passengers.

“That’s one of the reasons I’m working so hard on El Toro,” Silva said.