El Toro lawsuit settled

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT-MESA -- With legal bills mounting, Orange County and the El

Toro Reuse Planning Authority have settled a lawsuit that keeps the

county from hiring an outside law firm that has handled much of its El

Toro fight.

The two sides announced the deal in a joint statement Tuesday

afternoon.

The planning authority sued the county on Oct. 7, 1998, alleging it

didn’t secure a four-fifths approval from the Board of Supervisors to

hire Gatzke, Dillon and Ballance. The firm, headed by Michael Gatzke, has

advised the county on airport-related issues since 1978.

Gatzke has been one of the planning authority’s main enemies as the

county has worked to build an airport at the former El Toro Marine Corps

Air Station. Gatzke advised the county when the planning authority

challenged the validity of the airport’s environmental review.

In the settlement, the county agreed not to hire Gatzke for advice on

any new litigation. Gatzke, in turn, agreed to pay “taxable costs.”

Planning authority spokeswoman Meg Waters said those could add up to

about $10,000.

Also in the deal, the planing authority can file a claim against the

county for legal costs, which Waters said added up to about $250,000. The

authority dropped its suit.

“ETRPA wanted to put the county on notice,” Waters said about the

suit. “We wanted to insist that they follow the rules.”

County officials could not be reached for comment.

Newport Beach Councilman Gary Proctor, who said he hadn’t seen the

settlement, blasted the suit as a “purely political” move.

“I believe it’s nothing more than South County using trench warfare

and terrorist activity to challenge any kind of development at El Toro of

any kind,” Proctor said. “It’s just mean-spirited.”