El Toro lawsuit garners support

June Casagrande

City leaders say they support a new lawsuit to prevent the city of

Irvine from annexing the former El Toro Marine base, but they’re

skeptical that the suit will result in a commercial airport at El

Toro.

“The lawsuit was predictable,” Mayor Steve Bromberg said. The

Airport Working Group “talked about doing this some time ago. At this

point in time, all we can do is look at it and see where it’s going

... Nothing has really changed as far as Newport Beach is concerned

... The Department of Transportation has not changed its position

that there should be no airport at El Toro. The Department of the

Navy has not changed its position that there should be no airport at

El Toro.”

Bromberg said, and City Manager Homer Bludau agreed, that almost

nothing short of White House intervention is likely to create a

commercial airport at El Toro.

“I think that would have to come from the White House,” Bludau

said. “I think that the president would have to say that he doesn’t

think it’s in the best interest of the nation.”

The Airport Working Group and the Orange County Regional Airport

Authority on Friday filed a suit to stop Irvine from annexing the

4,000-acre El Toro site as part of a plan to sell off the land for

development. The suit is based on the two groups’ belief that

environmental documents for the land conceal what will really happen

to the “Great Park” that voters supported with Measure W in March

2002.

“The ‘Great Park’ will be composed of a variety of uses, none of

which resemble a park, including, but not limited to, a minimum of

6,585,594 square feet of commercial development and 3,652 dwelling

units,” the lawsuit alleges.

The annexation and subsequent sale and development of the land

would allow the city of Irvine “to take full advantage of their

independent zoning and planning power to design a project that will

have the highest possible financial but not necessarily environmental

or aesthetic benefits to Irvine or the surrounding communities,” the

suit alleges.

It goes on to say Irvine has failed to disclose the extent of

development that will be allowed there, the environmental effects and

the traffic that the development would generate.

“It covers just about every possible area of traffic, air quality,

water quality,” working group President Tom Naughton said.

Meg Waters, spokeswoman for the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority,

questioned the validity of these allegations. She said that the

environmental drawbacks of a commercial airport far outweigh the

potential effects of the development.

“They can say anything they want in a lawsuit, what matters is

what the courts say,” Waters said. “I think at the end of the day

we’re going to know that the plan is pretty solid. ... This is not

going to stop the plan from going forward.”

And while local leaders don’t expect to see the city’s air travel

worries dissolve overnight, most insist that El Toro’s not over until

it’s over.

“As far as AWG and OCRAA are concerned, I’ve always supported

them; their intentions are always to protect Newport Beach,” Bromberg

said. “Until they start selling off that land, there’s nothing that’s

over yet.”

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

[email protected].