Newport heartened by response to JWA mailing

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- A surprising onslaught of responses to a mail

campaign have city officials encouraged that neighboring cities will ally

with them to fight for extended restrictions on John Wayne Airport.

By Monday, 7,559 people had responded to letters the city sent out to

notify residents about the impending expiration of some restrictions on

flights at John Wayne. That’s far more than expected.

The city sent out about 200,000 letters in mid-November to residents

of Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin and Anaheim.

These “corridor cities” were targeted because they lie in the path where

the effects of airport noise and pollution can be felt the most.

“We’re very encouraged by the numbers,” City Manager Homer Bludau

said. “The more people that know the importance of this settlement

agreement extension the more people will get involved in telling their

county supervisors to extend the settlement.”

The agreement, which will expire Dec. 31, 2005, limits the number of

flights by the noisiest aircraft, prevents late night and early morning

flights, and limits how much renovation can take place at the airport.

The restrictions were part of a settlement in 1985 of a lawsuit between

the city and the county.

The letters sent out last month were the first of three mailers the

city plans to send out to the corridor cities. They included response

cards people could send back to the city requesting more information on

the agreement and ways to get it extended.

Public relations executives of McNally Temple Associates, which has a

$384,000 contract with the city to conduct the mail campaign, told city

officials to hope that 7,000 to 8,000 people would respond to all three

mailers. But now that the city achieved that goal after just the first

letter was sent out, officials are heartened that the county will

seriously consider Newport Beach’s request to extend the agreement

another 10 years.

That won’t happen until after it considers an environmental study for

the airport, probably in February. Newport Beach officials hope that, by

March 1, the agreement will be officially extended.

Bludau said the next round of letters will be sent out next week.

“With these letters, we’re seeing an interest we had not seen before,”

City Councilman Steve Bromberg said. “I think people in corridor

recognize they have as much to gain or lose in this settlement agreement

as Newport Beach.”

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 june.casagrande@latimes.comf7 .

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