Airport Working Group not giving up

Deepa Bharath

Members of a group that has fought the expansion of John Wayne

Airport and lobbied for an airport at the El Toro Marine Air Base on

Wednesday pledged to continue their fight for a second airport in

Orange County.

At the Airport Working Group’s annual meeting held in the Newport

Beach Golf Club, group leaders said they will not fade away with the

voting down of the airport initiative.

“It’s not over,” the group’s Vice President Rick Taylor said. “We

have to be vigilant and keep our fight up. This is a never-ending

struggle to maintain our quality of life.”

The group’s proclamation came a little more than a month after one

of the last lingering battles over an El Toro Airport was resolved

when the planning authority, the Airport Working Group, the city of

Irvine, the Orange County Regional Airport Authority and other

parties arrived at a settlement to close the door on several

outstanding lawsuits.

In 2002, county voters approved Measure W, which rezoned the base

for use as a central county park that includes commercial elements.

Regardless of the passage of Measure W, an airport in El Toro is

an issue which can be resurrected after the November election, said

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who delivered the keynote address on

Wednesday.

“After the election there are going to be many people who won’t be

as sensitive to the votes in South County,” he said.

Rohrabacher, who has consistently given his support to the group

and their efforts, urged members not to give up.

“We have to fight till the very end of it,” he said. “We have to

keep going and hope there will be a Hail Mary pass in the last

minutes of the game.”

There is added hope with the city of Los Angeles running out of

options for LAX and San Diego realizing their slim chances of finding

a site for a second airport in its county, said attorney Barbara

Lichman, who represents the group.

“The good news is the runways are still there in El Toro,” she

said. “And we have a job to do as long as there are runways in El

Toro and Los Angeles has realized the need for an airport there.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].