SOUNDS FROM THE SOUTH

AT ISSUE: South County residents are pushing for Measure F, which would

give two-thirds of county voters a say on new airport, jails or

landfills.

Six years after Measure F was defeated, and with an El Toro airport

operating at about half capacity, Newport Beach residents are up in arms

over the 200 flights a day (scheduled to reach 400 in another 14 years)

departing due west over Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. Large aircraft are

reported at 3,000 feet, 24 hours a day.

Flights out of John Wayne Airport have been scaled back to about 5

million passengers a year. But the result of joint operations of the two

airports is tripling flights over Newport Beach, and extending flight

hours over the city to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because of

westbound El Toro departures.

A Newport Beach citizens committee is hard at work drafting a measure for

the fall ballot, which would reverse the decision to place an airport at

El Toro.

MICHAEL E. SMITH

Mission Viejo

I am surprised by the information I found regarding Measure F and the

future of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa if Measure F passes. Did anyone

from these areas who oppose this measure read that it includes expansion

of existing airports (namely John Wayne)?

Not everybody in South Orange County wants to see John Wayne expanded, or

the curfews lifted. There are many of us who believe a large commercial

airport anywhere in heavily populated Orange County is just bad planning.

Many of us want to work with the residents of Newport Beach and Costa

Mesa to find the best solution to satisfy our airport needs. There are

alternatives. Moving your problems to seven other cities should not be

one of them.

I personally hate the fact that tons of pollutants are being poured into

the air we breathe from John Wayne. I don’t think in terms of “its not in

my back yard, so who cares.”

Measure F is not just about stopping El Toro, it’s about stopping

expansion of John Wayne. I suggest reading the initiative fully. It

really was written with John Wayne in mind.

Also, consider this: What if Measure F doesn’t pass?

The building of El Toro is held up in the courts for another five years,

and curfews are lifted. Planes can fly in at all times of the night, and

the flood gates open.

Do you think voters will want to build an El Toro air field when they see

that John Wayne Airport can really handle most of our needs?When are we

all going to wake up and work together to stop John Wayne’s expansion and

do what’s right for everyone in this beautiful county, not just what’s in

our own back yard?

EILEEN MOSKOW

Laguna Niguel

After reading the assorted “No on F” letters published Feb. 24, I am

truly beginning to feel pity for your community.

The Air Line Pilots Assn. has made its position abundantly clear in its

response to the county’s environmental study, called an impact report.

The north and east routes proposed by the county are unsafe, period. The

vast majority of aircraft will take off to the west, into the prevailing

winds, just as they do at John Wayne. By my map, Newport Beach and Costs

Mesa are west of El Toro.

If El Toro is built, your cities will receive air traffic from not one,

but two airports. However, El Toro will not enjoy the traffic or noise

restrictions currently in place at John Wayne. Jets will fly over Newport

Beach 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This is fact from professional pilots, not South County hysteria.

The only way to protect your cities from this air traffic nightmare is to

vote yes on Measure F. Should F fail, you will someday look back on March

8, 2000, as the day the county began the destruction of Newport Beach and

Costa Mesa -- because you allowed them to build an airport at El Toro.

RICHARD SODEN

Lake Forest