Great park would be a great expense

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT-MESA -- A central park at the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air

Station would cost $2.1 billion to develop and as much as $60 million a

year to operate, according to a report released Tuesday.

The report was paid for by the El Toro Educational Alliance, a

pro-airport group that includes the Newport Beach-based Airport Working

Group.

The economic report analyzed the costs associated with South County’s

park plan, which could face a countywide vote in March.

Supporters of an airport for the base said the report would be a

“reality check” for South County leaders who have championed the park --

with its library, botanical garden, lake and museum -- as an ennobling

alternative to the county’s plan for an airport at the base.

“I think it’s something they need to hear,” Newport Beach Councilman

Gary Proctor said. “If [county residents] are going to vote for it, let

them vote for it with their eyes open.”

To pay for and operate the park would require a 10% countywide tax

increase, the report states.

Yearly interest to cover bonds floated to pay for the park would cost

$185 million a year, the report states.

To pay for their park plan, South County leaders have said they could

generate $25 million a year from the leasing of agricultural land and

buildings at the base.

Tom Rogers, a member of the committee leading the ballot initiative

for the park, accused airport supporters of floating a biased report to

beef up support for an airport.

“The thing is a moneymaker,” Rogers said about the base. “They’re

saying that because they’re in a political campaign. They have nothing to

base the numbers on.”

Rogers could not produce estimates of how much he thinks the park

would cost.

If revenue from the leases is the only source of income to pay for the

park, the report states, it would take more than 60 years to raise enough

cash before any construction could begin.

South County has advertised the park in a series of glossy brochures

pointing out the benefits of the project.

“These are costs to these things you can’t just put it in a pretty

flier,” said Dave Ellis, spokesman for the working group.

The report was completed by BBC Research and Consulting, a firm based

in Denver. Former state auditor Kurt Sjoberg, hired by the educational

alliance, said the research is sound.

“We have the confidence that someone can rely on the statements as

being fair and reasonable,” Sjoberg said.

Sjoberg was awarded a $30,000 contract to review the report. The total

cost of the study is expected to reach about $65,000, Ellis said.

Money for the study came, in part, from a $3.7-million grant from

Newport Beach to the working group in March.

* Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may

be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail ato7

paul.clinton@latimes.comf7 .