Problem with ‘Great Park’ up in the air

Remember Measure W, the proposition written to kill the El Toro

Airport so that a “Great Park” could be built on the land? Well, what

happened to all those big park plans? I suspect they were about as

phony and misleading as the anti-airport propaganda voters were given

for not building a commercial airport at the former Marine Corps Air

Station.

So exactly what do Orange County residents have now, almost three

years later?

As predicted, air transportation needs have grown, but new,

out-of-county airport options have not materialized.

The result for residents from Anaheim to Newport Beach, who live

under the flight path of John Wayne Airport, is that there are more

flights over their heads. In fact, without the El Toro air space

restrictions, South County residents are also being affected. The

passenger cap at John Wayne Airport was raised from 8.4-million

passengers per year to 10.3 million. In October alone, John Wayne

Airport had a record monthly increase of more than 720,000

passengers. There are six new gates in the process of being

constructed, paving the way for future battles over passenger

increases.

Since the former “buffer zone” property near the former El Toro

Marine Corps Air Station can now be rezoned, owners of large lots of

land are banging on the doors of local city halls requesting

permission to build thousands of new houses and apartments. Just

imagine five new people for each new housing unit, and then consider

the impact that huge number will have on our already severely

congested freeways and struggling infrastructure system.

So who would benefit if El Toro is not an airport? Certainly not

the majority of Orange County residents! It would be the

multimillion-dollar companies and people in high places who supplied

the means to pass Measure W. They are the ones who stand to profit

the most financially and/or politically ... at our expense.

BONNIE O’NEIL

Newport Beach