Navy letter further puts park in peril

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT-MESA -- A local congressman who supports an airport for the

closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station said a letter from the Navy is

“undermining [the] legality and feasibility” of a Great Park at the base.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy H.T. Johnson answered the written

request from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who represents Costa Mesa.

“After reviewing correspondence from H.T. Johnson,” Rohrabacher said,

“it appears advocates of a Great Park reuse of El Toro would face

tremendous legal, economic and environmental hurdles.”

In his Sept. 14 letter, Johnson answers several questions Rohrabacher

asked in a July 11 letter the congressman sent to U.S. Secretary of

Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

South County opponents of Orange County’s airport plan for the base

have a different spin on the two letters, which focused on whether park

supporters could get the 4,700 acres at no cost. The letters also

addressed environmental cleanup of the base and what bureaucratic hurdles

park supporters would need to clear.

“The door hasn’t closed on the Great Park,” South County spokeswoman

Meg Waters said. “I think Mr. Rohrabacher has read the letter too fast

and doesn’t understand the nuances of the base conversion process.”

South County leaders hope to put their Great Park to a vote during the

county’s March 5 election. The park initiative is now stuck in legal

flypaper while supporters anxiously wait for an appellate judge to decide

its fate.

On July 31, Superior Court Judge James Gray invalidated the petition,

saying the ballot title and summary were misleading.

Airport boosters have criticized the Great Park as an unrealistic

drain on the public purse.

“Do the people of the county want to buy a big park for the city of

Irvine?” Newport Beach Councilwoman Norma Glover asked rhetorically.

“That’s the question.”

Glover and others, not surprisingly, agreed with Rohrabacher’s

assessment that the Johnson letter was helpful to their cause.

The Navy has set a timetable for handing the base over to the county

to develop the airport. That process could begin April 15.

“My sense is that the Navy is telling us loudly and clearly that if

that property is conveyed, it’s going to be used for an airport,” Newport

Beach Councilman Gary Proctor said.

* 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 .