EDITORIAL:Deal is vital to quality of life

The sound you hear should be sighs of relief throughout Newport-Mesa.

Though it may not have been as big or ground-breaking as was possible, at its heart an agreement reached this week between Newport Beach and Orange County should fundamentally improve the quality of life in the community.

How? The deal gives Newport Beach new, and critical, authority over what most people agree is the defining issue in town: John Wayne Airport. Specifically, the deal, which county supervisors and the Newport Beach City Council approved this week, gives Newport Beach veto power over any land purchase by the county that would be used to add a second commercial runway or over any county plans to expand the existing one at the airport.

Combined with the settlement agreement that is in place until 2015 and restricts the number of flights out of the airport, this latest agreement acts as another safeguard for Newport-Mesa residents. And even if the safeguard is not the impenetrable armor it was originally planed to be four years ago (when there was talk about the city going so far as to take control of John Wayne Airport), any additional protection should be greeted warmly.

Newport Mayor Don Webb summed up feelings about the final result well: “We’d hoped that the sphere issues agreement would be a little more comprehensive, but we got the main item that we wanted to get.”

This week’s news, of course, in no way means that Newport Beach (or Costa Mesa or county) leaders should sit back and relax and not worry about John Wayne Airport expansion. There will always be pressure on the airport to expand and add more flights as air travel continues to grow. And 2015 creeps ever closer. City and county leaders must continue to unite in the fight against any more flights out of John Wayne Airport.

With this week’s agreement, they have proven they can do so. Now, it’s on to the next battle.