COMMUNITY COMMENTARY -- Bonnie O’Neil

There are three main reasons for a discrepancy between countywide

opinion and Newport Beach regarding an airport at El Toro.

First, Newport Beach residents have been aware of air transportation

needs and problems for more than 20 years due to John Wayne Airport’s

close proximity to the city. They have been forced into understanding

this issue far more than the average county citizen.

We know that all legitimate studies on future county air

transportation requirements indicate significant increases, and we cannot

rely on other airports, such as the already maxed-out Los Angeles

International Airport, but must wisely provide for that demand within

Orange County.

Newport Beach clearly understands there are two choices: create a

commercial airport at the available El Toro site or expand JWA.

Physical evidence demonstrates JWA is far too small to adequately

handle future needs. It is on a bare 490 acres, while the El Toro

property is about 10 times larger at 4,700 acres. JWA already is

considered one of the more dangerous airports due to the combination of

its having only one small runway used for takeoffs, an enormous amount of

small aircraft that mingles with large jets in approach patterns, a most

unusual takeoff procedure necessary for sound mitigation, and most

problematic of all, homes, schools and businesses extremely close to the

airport and directly under the takeoff pattern.

The above circumstances have caused pilots to state that JWA is a

major accident waiting to happen. Yet without El Toro airport, JWA will

expand out of a growing need and we know the dangers will only increase.

The safety and quality of life for Newport Beach residents and other

surrounding neighborhoods would obviously be greatly compromised.

Second, activists against building an El Toro airport have been very

effective in putting forth blatant misinformation and in using scare

tactics to terrify people in South County cities and gain unwarranted

sympathy from North County citizens as well.

The horrors about El Toro portrayed in slick brochures and TV

advertisements are not realistic and can all be refuted with facts. Few

of those opposed to El Toro know about the 18,000 acres of a built-in

buffer zone that was purposely created by zoning laws to protect South

County residents from the noise and safety concerns.

A third reason for a lack of countywide support for El Toro is our own

fault. We have not performed as well as we should in getting out positive

information about the new airport to all county residents. Much of our

opposition’s misinformation has gone unchallenged. The media has not been

our friend, and we have not come even close to matching the anti-El Toro

activists with money, effort, or passion. When people do not have the

whole truth, but instead only a steady stream of misinformation, the

results are obvious and evident.

Unless pro-El Toro airport leaders can develop a viable strategy, with

proper financial support, to reach all Orange County citizens with

information that challenges the lies they have come to believe,

countywide opinion will not change. We will experience a never-ending

need and pressure to expand JWA, which will begin happening within the

next couple of years, and our once beautiful city will become something

we do not want to even imagine.

We will also be stuck with a gigantic park at the El Toro site that

will not only be a financial burden to taxpayers but a sore remembrance

of what could have and should have been.

It is time for each of us to take action that will help prevent such a

scenario. One way to get more information and volunteer to help is to

access o7 https://www.eltoronow.comf7 .

* BONNIE O’NEIL is a member of the Airport Working Group and is a

Newport Beach resident.