El Toro overshadows proposed JWA settlement deal

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT HARBOR -- It didn’t take long for policymakers discussing the

future of John Wayne Airport on Wednesday to emphasize the importance of

an airport at the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

Even though those discussing the issue at a forum held in the

Riverboat Restaurant’s water-level lounge represent areas in North

County, the discussion proved once again how intertwined the two issues

have become.

“If there’s not an airport at El Toro, the pressure for growth in

Orange County will be placed on John Wayne,” Supervisor Jim Silva said.

“If we do have El Toro, citizens living around John Wayne will be

protected.”

Nonprofit group Speak Up Newport organized the well-attended event,

which saw more than 100 pack the restaurant.

Silva, whose 2nd District includes Costa Mesa, was joined by Newport

Beach Councilwoman Norma Glover and Art Bloomer, the executive director

of the Orange County Regional Airport Authority.

Speakers also urged voters to defeat a South County ballot measure

looming on the horizon. Leaders in the south are mounting the initiative,

which would shift zoning at the base to allow for an Orange County

Central Park, for the March ballot.

“Vote twice,” Silva said jokingly.

In remarks stemming from the El Toro talk, Glover said Newport Beach

is under the gun to cement a deal to extend the flight restrictions at

John Wayne.

If a deal is not in place before March, Glover said, the airport’s cap

on passengers and mandatory nighttime curfew could be in jeopardy.

“If we lose that initiative before we have an extension in place,”

Glover said, “we will probably never get an agreement.”

Orange County and Newport Beach have tentatively agreed on an

extension of the 1985 settlement deal. In exchange for a 20-year

extension of the curfew, which will expire in 2005, Newport Beach has

agreed to bump up the passenger cap from 8.4 million to 9.8 million

annually.

Newport Beach has also agreed to add four more flight gates to the

terminal’s current 14 and 12 more daily departures.

Speakers also said they hoped other affected parties, including the

airlines and Federal Aviation Administration, will buy off on the deal.

The county’s Board of Supervisors began environmental review of the

extension May 8.

The panelists took audience questions for the bulk of the hourlong

forum, which was moderated by Daily Pilot Publisher Tom Johnson.

Johnson congratulated the speakers for tackling the extension.

“I would like to thank them all for their commitment to this worthy

goal,” Johnson said.