Terms of John Wayne debate shift

Alex Coolman

NEWPORT BEACH -- Every voice needs to be heard: It’s an idea that’s

been at the edge of the John Wayne Airport debate, and one that this week

moved dramatically to the center of the fight.

The shift came after the city went to the Orange County Board of

Supervisors last week to start the process of extending flight caps at

John Wayne Airport.

City officials got less than what they asked for. The board denied

their request to extend the restrictions, which were put in place in 1985

and expire in 2005.

The restrictions limit the number of annual passengers to 8.4 million

-- the airport served 7 million in 1999 -- and allows no more than 73

daily departures. Departures are allowed from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday

through Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. Arrivals are allowed from

7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

In the wake of the board’s decision, a group that is theoretically

Newport’s close ally has been outspoken in its criticism of the city.

The Airport Working Group, an adamant supporter of extending flight

caps, nevertheless hammered Newport Beach’s council for its approach to

the board.

“It’s really important that we bring the right parties to the table,”

said Barbara Lichman, executive director of the working group, in a

heated address at Tuesday’s council meeting.

With the next meeting of the Board of Supervisors coming in four days,

city officials say they are confident their allies can be satisfied and

that the board will approve the cap extensions.

But if there’s anything recent events have demonstrated unequivocally,

it’s that keeping negotiations open and inclusive can make a major

difference in the outcome of those talks.

Cynthia Coad, the fourth district supervisor who abstained from the

recent board vote on the cap extension, said the question of having

everyone at the table is crucial.

“There were more signatories [to the original flight cap agreement]

than were included in the item on the agenda,” Coad said. “I needed to

check out if they had been included.”

The original 1985 agreement was signed not only by Newport Beach and

Orange County officials, but also by representatives of the Airport

Working Group and the environmental group Stop Polluting Our Newport.

Coad said she’s had a chance since the last vote to talk with

representatives of the Airport Working Group, and that it put her mind at

ease.

“I now know what I needed to know,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll be able

to vote for restrictions as long as everyone is included.”

For its part, Stop Polluting Our Newport representatives have said

they are confident in the city’s approach.

Allan Beek, the secretary of the group, stood up at Tuesday’s council

meeting to commend city officials for their work on the caps.

“I think the council is doing an excellent job,” Beek said, adding

that his group would not take an active part in the extension

negotiations.

Lichman also has raised the concern that another party is

conspicuously absent from the talks about John Wayne: airline companies,

whose business opportunities could be dramatically affected if the caps

are extended.

“I have no doubt that [a cap renewal] will be challenged” if the

airlines are left out of the process, Lichman said. “The airport is not a

local issue, it’s a national issue.”

The legal questions surrounding the caps are convoluted. A 1990

federal law makes it virtually impossible for new restrictions to be

placed on flights into airports. But whether it will also prevent the

renewal of John Wayne’s existing caps is a matter of debate.

Irene Howie, a Washington, D.C., aviation attorney who is also a

consultant for the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, said she believes

caps probably can be pushed beyond 2005.

But she said the legal waters are sufficiently murky that the goodwill

of the airlines could make a major difference in the effort’s success or

failure.

“It’s a lot easier to get that kind of interpretation [allowing the

caps to be continued] if there is not a lot of political controversy

around it,” she said.

For now, Mayor John Noyes said, Newport does not plan to draw in the

airlines.

“My personal feeling is that I’d leave them out of it for a while and

just see what they do,” said Noyes, whose term on the council will come

to an end this month.

On the other hand, the city plans to amend slightly the resolution

that it will ask the Board of Supervisors to approve next week.

The new language will specifically include “all signators to the

current John Wayne Airport settlement agreement, and any other parties to

be later designated.”