El Toro debate stalls out in HB

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The El Toro airport debate may be raging in South

County, but its not flying here, as only two residents showed up Tuesday

for a meeting at City Hall on what many consider to be the most pressing

land use issue in Orange County.

Locals should be concerned about the fate of the former Marine base,

said Peggy Ducey, executive director of the Orange County Regional

Airport Authority, which sponsored the meeting, because building an

international airport will have a “ripple effect” throughout the county.

Traffic, noise and air pollution will be affected by the airport, but

whether for better or worse depends on whom you ask.

The organization Ducey represents supports the proposed airport.

Critics of the plan say well-established airports such as Los Angeles

International and Ontario have plenty of room to expand, so there is no

genuine demand for another airport in El Toro, the 4,700-acre Marine

Corps Air Station closed by the federal government in July.

But that argument ignores the future growth inside and outside the

county, Ducey said. By the year 2020, current airports will have to

expand just to keep up with their own increasing local populations, she

said. It’s only “fair” that Orange County takes care of its own, she

said.

“Wherever you have growth, you also have to provide infrastructure for

that growth,” she said.

Without El Toro, the freeways will be more clogged than ever because

people living in the county will have to drive to airfields farther away,

she said. The county already “exports” six million passengers annually to

LAX, she said.

But resident Debbie Cook, who didn’t attend the meeting, said city

residents live closer to LAX and John Wayne than El Toro.

“Why would we want to drive farther to an airport?” she asked.

Cook adds that an airport is not the answer to our transportation

problem. What we need is a rail system that connects to already existing

airports, she said.

The regional airport authority plans to hold more meetings at City

Hall, with the next one scheduled for March 16.

Before that, voters will get their chance to decide the potential fate

of the El Toro issue on March 7. Measure F, also known as the Safe and

Healthy Communities Initiative, would require the county to ask voters

for their permission before building an airport, creating a toxic dump,

or expanding or building a jail within a half-mile of 100 or more homes.

Two-thirds of the county’s voters would have to approve such projects.