Cowan supports an airport at El Toro

Paul Clinton

COSTA MESA -- Mayor Libby Cowan wants city residents to know she

supports an airport for the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Just

not the county’s airport.

Cowan, speaking at length about her position on a grab-bag of airport

issues, labeled the county’s plan as “not appropriate” and urged planners

to restore credibility to the process by seeking input from those cities

most affected by an airfield.

“An appropriate airport is one that is designed by [all of] the

communities, that has the least impactful runway configuration and that

meets the foreseeable needs of the county,” Cowan said.

The two-term councilwoman’s thoughts come as the county’s proposal for

an airport at El Toro faces a series of hurdles. The Orange County Board

of Supervisors is set to offer a final vote Oct. 16. Supervisors have

indicated they will choose an airport significantly smaller than the one

initially proposed.

Members of the Airport Working Group have pressured Cowan at recent

council meetings to clarify her stance on airport issues.

Upon hearing about Cowan’s thoughts on El Toro, group spokesman Dave

Ellis advised the mayor to further educate herself about the intricacies

of the county’s plan, which has been analyzed in a 28-volume

environmental report.

“She needs a comprehensive briefing on what is contained in the

[report],” Ellis said. “Those issues are addressed.”

Cowan said she supports a realignment of the base’s crossbar runways,

along with a more comprehensive analysis of air travel demand. The

region’s true demand can’t be known, Cowan said, until more flights are

shifted to Ontario International Airport.

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn has pledged to shift some flights from

Los Angeles International Airport to Ontario.

Regional transportation planners have complained the region’s air

travel system is taxed and in need of more flights.

“I disagree with that,” Newport Beach Councilman Gary Proctor said

about Cowan’s remark. “I have no doubt about the forecast demands. The

demand is there and going up.”

Also, Ontario is limited by air-quality limits imposed by the

California Air Resources Board, Proctor said.

Newport Beach officials have been working to extend the noise

restrictions at John Wayne Airport, a process Cowan said has not really

included Costa Mesa. Cowan’s city is on the front lines in terms of being

affected by jet noise. Departures, as they leave the airport, fan out

over the eastern section of the city.

“They are the visible, out-front people,” Cowan said. “That’s how they

want it to be. They want it to be their battle.”

When told about the remark, Proctor said he took it as “constructive

criticism” and would work harder to include Costa Mesa.

Any deal to extend the airport’s restrictions -- a cap on flights and

passengers, a nighttime curfew and other limits -- must be approved by

Newport Beach, the county, the working group and Stop Polluting Our

Newport.

Those four entities signed the 1985 Settlement Agreement, which put

the measures in place.

Cowan wasn’t the first to criticize the planning process for an

airport at El Toro. A South County group has long objected to it.

With the passage of Measure A in 1994, planning for an airport was

handed to the county. Before that, the job was in the hands of the El

Toro Reuse Planning Authority, which was, at the time, a collection of

cities from across the county.

When Irvine and Lake Forest were removed, the group disbanded,

reemerging as a staunch anti-airport agency of South County cities.

Airport planning, according to Cowan, was “hijacked” by Measure A,

which changed zoning at the base to allow an airport.

“I have a major problem with ballot-box planning,” she said.