Vote may reopen local airport row

Marisa O’Neil

Just when the issue of a possible commercial airport at the former El

Toro Marine air base seemed dead, the Los Angeles City Council is

getting involved.

The City Council on Wednesday voted 11-0 to ask the Los Angeles

Board of Airport Commissioners to investigate the possibility of

putting an airport on the property. The resolution recommends the

board use “any and all means, including litigation.”

The resolution passed by the council stated that the base is an

asset to all Californians, not just Orange County residents.

“Any decision for its future use should weigh the best interests

of the country and the region,” the resolution read.

Voters in 2002 chose to make a large portion of the south county

property into a public “Great Park.” Four large parcels are currently

in escrow after a real-estate development company bid nearly $650

million in February.

Both moves seemed to permanently squelch the possibility of a

commercial airport there. Proponents of the proposed El Toro airport

argued that it would help keep up with the demand for air travel, a

demand with which they say Orange County’s only airport, John Wayne

International Airport, can’t keep pace.

The Newport Beach-based Airport Working Group opposes expanding

the existing airport and has supported the El Toro idea. The group’s

vice president, Richard Taylor, said he’s glad to hear that Los

Angeles is getting involved.

“When Los Angeles speaks -- they have a lot of clout in

Washington. Maybe they’ll sit up and listen,” Taylor said.

The City of Los Angeles, which currently operates four airports in

two counties, earlier offered to enter into a long-term lease with

the U.S. Department of Transportation to operate an El Toro airport.

In a written statement, Irvine Mayor Beth Krom called the resolution

an “insult” to Orange County residents and said the plan is

“ill-conceived.”

The issue has yet to come before the Board of Airport

Commissioners, spokesman Paul Haney said. The commission’s next

meeting takes place Monday and the item could appear on the agenda.

Miami-based Lennar Corp. was the winning bidder for a large

portion of the El Toro property. It is expected to build 3,400 homes,

45 holes of golf, a university campus and 3.1 million square feet of

research-and-development, office and retail space on the property.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 at [email protected].