CLOSER LOOK -- Pushing for more restrictions

Paul Clinton

JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT -- Though the drive to extend flight restrictions

at John Wayne Airport has yet to gather much political steam, those who

would be most affected by the expiration of the caps in 2005 have already

begun readying themselves for the campaign.

From Newport Beach to Santa Ana to Irvine, the communities of Orange

County will have one eye on John Wayne -- with the other firmly fixed on

the former El Toro Marine base -- as they grapple with a growing demand

for flights.

Just as in the 1980s, when Newport Beach joined local activists in

lawsuits that won the restrictions, those involved say a broad range of

interests must have a say in the debate.

The restrictions limit the number of annual passengers to 8.4 million

and allow no more than 73 daily departures. Departures are allowed from 7

a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.

Arrivals are allowed from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and

8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday.

The process to extend the caps formally began Dec. 5, after the

county’s Board of Supervisors directed interim CEO Michael Schumacher to

begin talks with Newport Beach.

Those discussions have not begun Even so, members of the Airport

Working Group, the driving force behind the 1985 settlement agreement,

have already challenged the city and county to include them, along with

the airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration and others, in the

talks.

“I think all the affected parties should be at the table,” Airport

Working Group attorney Barbara Lichman said. “We have five years to work

this through, and I think we can do it.”

The process

For now, officials and activists have started to lay down the road map

for extending the settlement agreement past 2005.

The crucial first step, most agree, is deciding if any modifications

should be made to the current flight caps and noise restrictions.

Newport Beach has already brought San Francisco-based law firm Shute,

Mihaly and Weinberger on board for legal advice on whether the

restrictions can be extended. The firm’s founder, Clem Shute, had a hand

in the city’s earlier fight to get the settlement put in to place.

City officials said the firm has indicated that the settlement

agreement could be extended.

However, the city hasn’t signed a formal contract with the firm, City

Atty. Bob Burnham said, in response to an e-mail inquiry. And some City

Council members have said they would like to hire another firm to assess

the probability of a successful extension.

“I want to know what the odds are for getting this thing extended in

the current environment,” newly-elected Councilman John Heffernan said.

“I want a fresh look, somebody on the outside looking in for the first

time.”

Once a decision on modifications is made, the city and county must

decide what kind of environmental reviews are required by the California

Environmental Quality Act.

The players

The groups that ultimately must approve the extension agreement

include the four who signed the 1985 deal -- the city of Newport Beach,

the county, the Airport Working Group and Stop Polluting Our Newport, a

local environmental group that was active in the 1980s and 1990s.

It’s not clear whether the FAA would have to approve the deal, since

federal law prohibits airports from imposing their own flight

restrictions. Congress granted a special exemption for John Wayne when it

passed the Aircraft Noise and Capacity Act in 1990.

Stop Polluting Our Newport, the group that founded the working group

in the early 1980s, won’t take much of a leadership role in the issue,

its members say.

“We just haven’t devoted our resources to the airport issue,” group

member and former Newport Beach councilwoman Jean Watt said. “We’ve just

followed AWG’s lead.”

The politics

Clearly, extending the caps at John Wayne isn’t likely to generate the

same kind of political furor that greeted county backers of the proposed

El Toro airport.

Even South County leaders are on record as backing continued flight

limits for John Wayne. The EL Toro Reuse Planning Authority passed

several resolutions last year supporting the effort, group spokeswoman

Meg Waters said.

But with Newport Beach keeping up the pro-El Toro airport fight, the

coalition of South County cities -- which on Friday filed an appeal of a

judge’s ruling overturning the anti-airport Measure F -- has rethought

its position.

“South County is getting angry that Newport Beach is forcing a much

worse airport down our throats,” Waters said. “We think it will be

impossible to get those caps extended without our support.”

Taken aback by Waters’ remark, Airport Working Group’s Lichman

vehemently disagreed.

“South County has not one thing to say about it,” Lichman said. “We

don’t need their support on the settlement extension. Talking with them

or trying to get their support doesn’t matter.”

At 14 gates, the John Wayne terminal handled 7.7 million passengers

last year. The proposed El Toro airport is being planned to handle 28.8

million annually by 2020.

While the supervisors are divided on El Toro, they unanimously support

extending the restrictions at John Wayne.

“The focus is accommodating the demand we generate in Orange County

with reasonable protections for the citizens around John Wayne and El

Toro,” said James Campbell, a spokesman for Supervisor Chuck Smith. “We

just can’t follow this ‘BANANA’ mantra that South County espouses that’s

‘Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone.”’

The FAA is working to complete a regional capacity study, expected to

be made public in April, assessing the future aviation demands in

Southern California.

That study should answer many of the questions about the need for a

second airport or expanded John Wayne, FAA spokesman Jerry Snyder said.

From there, success might depend on how well Newport Beach spreads its

message, said Airport Working Group co-founder Clarence Turner, who has

pushed for the involvement of Anaheim, Irvine and other Orange County

cities in the process.

“If I were involved, I would be thinking of a program that would

appeal countywide,” Turner said. “They’ve got to get outside support.”