Fingers crossed on new El Toro talk
June Casagrande
Jet noise almost completely drowns out Russell Niewiarowski’s voice
as he tries to explain over the phone why his hope for an El Toro
airport has gotten a boost from the news that L.A. Mayor James Hahn
has asked federal authorities to consider turning the closed Marine
base into a commercial airport.
“It’s not over till the fat lady sings, and she hasn’t sung yet on
this one,” said Niewiarowski, a former pro-El Toro airport activist
whose West Santa Ana Heights home is three doors down from John Wayne
Airport’s runway.
While governmental and nongovernmental organizations wage an ink
war, Newport-Mesa residents are a little more reserved about what may
or may not be a revival of the pro-El Toro airport cause.
“I don’t know how it’s going to turn out,” said Robert Hanley, a
30-year resident of Santa Ana Heights who supports creating a
commercial airport at El Toro. “I can’t predict what the outcome will
be. I probably won’t live long enough to find out.”
Residents are split on whether the city of Los Angeles has a right
to push for decisions outside its jurisdiction. Hanley, for example,
doesn’t see air travel demand as a county issue.
“This is not a local issue,” he said. “This is really a national
issue.”
But Newport Coast resident Gerry Ross disagrees.
“I don’t like the fact that they’re meddling in our local
government,” Ross said. “I think that L.A. has no business whatsoever
in doing an end-around on the will of the people in Orange County.
... We don’t interfere with the governance of L.A. County.”
Ross, like many of his neighbors, is torn over El Toro. Some
Newport Coast homes might suffer as much under an El Toro airport as
they would under John Wayne Airport’s expansion.
“I’m conflicted,” Ross said. “For a lot of reasons, an El Toro
airport would be good for us. I just don’t want it in my back yard.”
B.J. Johnson, an officer of the Corona del Mar Residents Assn.,
said the association may revive discussions of the matter with its
next membership meeting, but it’s too soon to be sure.
“Our association supported the [Airport Working Group] originally,
and in my opinion, I think there’s definitely a need for an airport.
It just seems so simple and logical to me that it should be at El
Toro.”
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