READERS RESPOND -- South County should share air traffic needs

AT ISSUE: Measure F, on Tuesday’s ballot, which is aimed at derailing the

county’s El Toro airport plans.

Should the people of South County not share in the need for expanded air

transportation -- a need brought on by the growth of South County? The

cities of Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Tustin, Orange, Santa Ana,

Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Orange and yes, Irvine, will be

subjected to the new environmental impact report, Plan F or G, dated

December 1999.

Plan F, the least invasive, will subject those within a five-mile radius

of John Wayne to triple the noise and pollution. There are 180 or more

schools, child-care or children’s facilities within a five-mile radius of

John Wayne. Are our children less precious than the children of South

County? The closest home to El Toro is six miles, and El Toro has a

14,000-acre buffer zone, while John Wayne has none. South County, we

under the flight path need your cooperation, not your constant barrage of

opposition.

JOHN DI BELLO

Newport Beach

I believe that the perfect solution to end the El Toro debate is that if

Measure F is passed and El Toro airport is not built, the county shall

restrict the use of John Wayne Airport to those that live in the areas

north and west of the city of Irvine.

This proposal would include the requirement to show proof of residence in

order to purchase a ticket for departing flights from John Wayne. The

400,000-plus residents of South County would have to make other

arrangements such as LAX, Ontario or San Diego for their travel plans.

This plan would help alleviate the pressure to expand John Wayne, as

those who chose not to have an airport in their own backyard will not be

able to travel from a convenient location. It is very sad to me that

anyone would want to squander such a golden opportunity to have a

facility as convenient and safe as El Toro would be.

JEFFREY W. WILCOX

Newport Beach

As a resident of Newport Beach who lives under the flight path of John

Wayne Airport, I can surely empathize with South County residents.

However, Orange County is rapidly expanding and will continue to do so.

As the county grows, more people will need to travel for business and

want to travel for pleasure, and more cargo will have to find its way

into the county. Any notion that this county will not have to expand its

airport capacity in the next 20 years is shortsighted. The El Toro

Airport plan goes a long way toward solving some of these problems at far

less of a social cost than any expansion of John Wayne Airport.

Should the El Toro plan not go through, two alternatives have been

devised for expanding John Wayne Airport. An expanded John Wayne will

create air and noise pollution in an already crowded residential area, it

will force the condemnation of hundreds of homes and businesses, it will

negatively impact the Back Bay wildlife refuge, it will create traffic

congestion on crowded surface streets and will detrimentally impact more

than 250 schools within a five-mile radius of the airport. There is no

buffer zone around John Wayne and there never will be, unlike El Toro,

which has an 14,000-acre buffer zone around the perimeter of the airport.

The airport issue is regional, and a levelheaded approach is needed more

now than ever before. It is simply too easy to say “Not in my backyard”

and ignore the realities that face an ever-expanding Orange County.

Moreover, it would be unfair for the residents of South County to utilize

an expanded John Wayne Airport, while not shouldering some of the burden

themselves.

At the very least, I hope that the same South County residents who so

vigorously oppose an airport at El Toro will stand up and oppose any

expansion of John Wayne with the same energy level.

JON W. GURKA

Newport Beach

I have lived in Newport Beach for 20 years. I have lived with airplane

noise for that entire time. Unlike the comments I have heard from reading

the El Toro airport opponents, the following has been my reality in

living 20 years under the glide path:

1. No known diseases have been contracted by my children as the result of

airplanes going overhead. They are normal, productive American citizens.

2. My home hasn’t gone down in value. In fact, the planes fly over some

of the most expensive homes in the United States.

3. My employer not only liked the airport being nearby, but actually

located the company in Newport Beach because it was near an airport.

4. The planes fly over one of the most beautiful parks and wildlife

preserves in California, the Back Bay. I have seen no evidence in 20

years of riding my bike around this vast parkland that the planes have

damaged anything at all.

5. The noise pollution, paranoia and outright lies coming from otherwise

educated, normal people should be the true study undertaken, not how loud

the planes are.

6. I would venture to say that many people near John Wayne Airport live

with far more noise and potential risk than anyone ever would at El Toro.

More importantly, they don’t want any more.

And that is the real issue here. The folks in Irvine, Mission Viejo and

El Toro want to have their cake while they’re eating ours. They want

thousands of new homes that are built on every empty lot to have flight

access from John Wayne. I say we have done our fair share. It’s time for

others to help out. Has everyone in South County forgotten how loud the

jets were that used to land there since El Toro opened? I remember the

Marines on maneuvers during the Gulf War. The commercial jets would be a

picnic by comparison.

7. El Toro was built as an airport. I have been there a number of times.

It is vast compared to John Wayne. And in many cases the planes would be

much, much higher over El Toro than they are here. Most of the time they

would be flying over the Cleveland National Forest. In Newport, in Santa

Ana conditions, the planes come in so low over the back bay I can

practically read the in-flight magazines from my front porch.

The bottom line is this: Does Orange County need a bigger, better

airport, yes or no? The answer appears to be yes. If Orange County will

need to move more air travelers in the next 20 years, where are they

going to fly in and out of? Right now most of the people from South

County are really assuming its going to continue to be over my house. I

don’t think so.

Let’s assume for a moment that all of the hysterical distorted and

paranoid lies I have read in fliers printed by El Toro opponents are the

truth. Why then should I and others be subjected to them because

thousands of additional flights are required to accommodate all the new

homes in South County in the next 20 years.

In short, why is it bad for them but good for me? How many people on an

average flight out of Orange County are from South County? My biggest

problem with all of the arguments I have heard is that I took a logic

course during my undergraduate training.

ED CARELS

Newport Beach