“Anti-airport group not disbanding just yet”

In 2002, Burnham correctly predicted that the new passenger caps negotiated for the airport “likely won't have much effect on Newport Beach residents, noting that factors such as the number of seats filled on any given flight and current trends in air travel will buffer the effect of expanded caps.”

Events have proven him right as more passengers have yet to result in more flights.

This is a dramatically different view than the one created by the OC Register’s August 26 front page caption "County sees growth spurt of 68 percent for John Wayne", a statement that produced emotional response when taken out of context.

Changing of the Guard at El Toro

The OC Register reports: “2 p.m. – Changing of the Guard: In an invitation-only ceremony, the U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard will present colors for the final time at the former El Toro air station, the future site of the 3,724-acre Great Park.”

The theme of public-private partnership surfaced in most speakers’ comments. Everyone was generous with praise for their partners with Bob Santos, Executive Vice President of Lennar mentioning the “grass roots community”, Irvine Mayor Beth Krom citing ETRPA, and Great Park Chairman Larry Agran observing that “ETRPA shouldered most of the burden in the early years” of the fight over El Toro.

Agran also thanked the “citizen volunteers” introducing Bill Kogerman and Len Kranser, who, along with Tris Krogius were invited to represent the Yes on Measure W campaign team. The other attendees were electeds, local and federal government officials and staff, and Lennar employees.

The gathering provided an opportunity to continue our lobbying for a community wide celebration, runway demolition party and distribution of pieces of the concrete.

Click here for OC Register's August 30 report.

Click for Lennar's press release with additional details.

The topic will likely be a concern for many voters in the race to fill former Rep. Chris Cox’s seat.”

“Maybe it’s a campaign ploy, but John Graham, one of 17 candidates to replace former Rep. Chris Cox, is resurrecting the suggestion of a commercial airport at Camp Pendleton.”

“Although Graham may be the first of the candidates to bring airport issues into the campaign, with the history of the proposed El Toro airport and the future of John Wayne Airport fresh in voters’ minds, he’s not expected to be the last.”

“Camp Pendleton aside, other candidates are expecting to get grilled about airport issues on the campaign trail, and with good reason.”

“’Absolutely it’s important to people. It’s an issue that’s dominated the politics in South Orange County for a decade,’ said Allan Songstad, a Laguna Hills city councilman and the board chairman of the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority.”

“Marilyn Brewer and state Sen. John Campbell, who are considered the race’s front runners, both expect airport questions to surface now because they play on the past and future worries of a large part of the district.”

“Both Republican candidates said they oppose any expansion of John Wayne Airport. Campbell and Graham said they opposed the El Toro airport plan, and Brewer has said she supported ‘the highest and best use of that property’.”

“’It’s a moot point at this point,” she said when asked whether that’s dodging the issue. “We’ve been through the process, the decisions have been made and we’re moving forward with the Great Park’.”

Click for the entire article.

”John Wayne Airport’s terminal would swell by 68 percent under a projected $437 million expansion plan, but caps limiting the number of passengers will remain the same, according to county documents released Thursday.”

”The terminal, now 440,000 square feet, would have a southern extension adding six gates and 300,000 square feet.”   Click for graphic of the expansion.

“Financing for the expansion could come from a $4.50 tax on passengers flying out of JWA and other revenues. Other options include fees on airlines that use the airport, car-rental taxes, using the airport’s reserves or taking out loans.”

”A court settlement with nearby residents allows 10.3 million passengers a year through 2010, and then 10.8 million through 2015 . . . If there were not a passenger cap, 11.6 million passengers would go through JWA in 2010, the report forecasts.”  

”Three daily international flights are anticipated. They would depart to Mexico and Canada.”

”A parking structure with 2,500 spaces would be built.”

More . . .

Newport proposes linking a John Wayne Joint Powers Authority (JPA) with a Santa Ana Heights Redevelopment Agency (SAHRA) that includes the airport and its environs. So far, no one at the County seems to be taking the bait.

El Toro Info Site report, August 22, 2005
The Genesis of the Great Park
 
Our regular message board poster and long-time anti-airport activist Media Watcher points out that the genesis of the Great Park concept and early ideas for El Toro's non-aviation reuse are available to browsers in our website's Internet attic. Two issues of Larry Agran's grass roots Project 99 newsletter from June and November 1997 show what OC residents wanted at El Toro.
 
The list - compiled at no cost by Agran's team of volunteers - reads much like results of the Visioning process that the Great Park Corp board paid big money to conduct.

Long Beach Press-Telegram, August 22, 2005
"All airport, all the time"

"Alex Wilcox is head of a new business venture, Smooth Flight Holdings Co., that has applied for 22 of the [Long Beach] airport's 25 [unused] commuter flight slots.

"Wilcox's business plan is still in development, but he told [Long Beach airport] commissioners that the firm will initially use 19-seat turbo-prop planes to begin commuter service to still-undetermined markets. But soon the company, which will come up with a flashy brand name to run under, will fly Q-400 Bombardier passenger jets with capacity for 78 passengers."

"Some of the cities he will fly to will be duplicates of ones now served by commercial jetliners here, bringing competition to the airport. "There's a huge untapped demand for the (short haul) market in Long Beach' and other cities where consumers are often stressed by long waits at major airports for relatively short flights, he said, adding that Las Vegas is a possible destination."

Website Editor: Wilcox preliminary planning seems aimed at drawing more domestic passengers away from LAX.  He will also compete on price with John Wayne airport where most residents using the airport come from North Orange County.

El Toro Info Site report, August 21, 2005

Memorabilia from ETRPA’s winning campaign

Yesterday’s report that the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority is winding down its long battle to stop El Toro airport sent me to our archives to revisit some of the campaign’s visually memorable moments.

As other El Toro websites – on both sides - evaporate into cyberspace, this site has collected part of their content and saved an Internet attic full of souvenirs.

Click for some of ETRPA’s high-impact mailers, produced by the creative public information team of Meg Waters and Roger Faubel.

OC Register, August 20, 2005

“Anti-airport group not disbanding just yet”

“The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority (ETRPA) . . .  comprising 10 south-county cities that for more than a decade opposed conversion of the former El Toro Marine base into a commercial airport - hopes to call it a battle won.” 

"’We think we'll have enough cash to carry us until we close up shop,’ said Paul Eckles, executive director. . .  Our mission has been to promote non-airport use. When we're absolutely certain we have no threat, our doors will close.’"
 

“Members are keeping watch to see how state lawmakers deal with legislation backed by former Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn to convert El Toro as a possible solution to regional airport needs.”
 

"We don't see any immediate signs," Eckles said.
 

 “Those cities - Irvine, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills, Dana Point, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods, Rancho Santa Margarita and Aliso Viejo - have paid annually to stay involved in the anti-airport fight.”
 

Their total contribution was $24 million. More than one-fifth of this came from the City of Irvine – one of the two original members along with Lake Forest -  according to ETRPA data. Irvine also conducted its own campaign to promote park reuse of the former base. Click for the entire article.

Supervisor Wilson - Consider nomination of Chairman Campbell to fill vacant position on Great Park Board

Supervisors Campbell and Wilson were major forces for strengthening the by-laws of the Great Park Corporation.

Several important changes in the governance of the Corporation came about after the initial form of the corporation was severly criticized as a "self perpetuating" group and the supervisors coauthored a September 7, 2003 OC Register op-ed “Great Park Corp. needs accountability”.

”Based on the growth rate of the past few years, passenger volumes would not reach 10 million until sometime in the next decade . . . initial forecasts predicted the airport would have topped 10 million passengers by now."
 
A SCAG spokesman “said growth limits at virtually every other airport in the region assure Ontario's growth.” More . . .

“Surveys and public meetings on the Great Park produced a clear consensus: natural vegetation.”

El Toro Info Site report, August 15, 2005
JWA - More passengers, no more flights so far 

In 2003, the agreement was amended to allow airlines to fill more of these empty seats and they have done so. So far, the larger number of passengers has not translated into more flights overhead. Eventually, there will be a few more flights but there is reason to hope that the impact on residents on the ground will not be proportional to the increase in the number of passengers served.

San Diego Union-Tribune, August 14, 2005

”A midyear tally of curfew violations by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority shows more [curfew] violations – 34 incidents from January through July – than in all of 2004. If the pace continues, the year would end with the second-highest number of violations since the current restrictions were adopted in 1989.” 

OC Register, August 12, 2005
"Airport plan rolling"
"Construction on the John Wayne Airport expansion could begin late this year."

"Under a $512 million plan for which county officials have approved the environmental documents - construction could begin later this year - JWA's terminal would be expanded by more than one-fourth, the number of gates increased from 14 to 20, a multistory parking structure with up to 3,200 parking spaces would be constructed and the airfield apron would be improved."

"Two of the new gates would be designed with U.S. Customs facilities - so that JWA can add a limited amount of international flights; it currently has none. The current terminal, at 337,900 square feet, is expected to grow by at least 100,000 square feet. "

Website Editor: Air Canada has seniority on the airport's waiting list for slots and has expressed interest in serving western Canada.

"The improvements are not meant to increase passenger capacity at JWA beyond its cap, which is effective through 2015, [Airport Director Alan] Murphy said."

"An amendment to a 1985 settlement - in a case brought about by residents surrounding the airport concerned about jet noise and pollution - limits the number of annual passengers to 10.3 million through 2010."

"The passenger count can then grow to 10.8 million through 2015, when another settlement amendment likely will be sought."

"At 10.8 million annual passengers, noise will increase slightly in one nearby neighborhood, Santa Ana Heights, but the average resident won't notice it, said airport spokeswoman Jenny Wedge."

Website Editor:  EIR 582 for the expansion evaluated the impact of this and several other alternatives, the most expansive being Alternative D. Alternative D examined the results of removing the capacity constraints at John Wayne but retaining the night curfew and limits on maximum allowable noise events. The study concluded that under those conditions the airport could serve 13.9 million annual passengers.

John Wayne is the second busiest airport in the SCAG region.

OC Register, August 11, 2005

“The race to fill Chris Cox’s seat in Congress should be fun to watch.”

Columnist Frank Mickadeit does a piece on the congressional race and interviewed candidate Marilyn Brewer of Newport Beach. 

“I asked her about the proposed Great Tunnel through the Santa Ana Mountains.”

”’I need more information.’”

”OK, I said, I’ll be asking you again soon.”

”’I don’t know if I will take a stand. Why should I?’”

”I explained how I thought it was the biggest land-use/transportation issue in the county since El Toro, and all the federal implications. She didn’t seem too interested.”

Website Editor: This is a reminder of when I asked then Assemblymember Brewer for her stand on El Toro a few years back and she didn’t answer. The general presumption was that she, just like her Newport Beach backers, supported the proposed airport. Brewer’s principal Republican opponent, John Campbell from Irvine openly opposed El Toro airport.

The 2004 [SCAG] Regional Transportation Plan recommends a new “Regional Airport Consortium” that would establish a common framework for coordinating all airport master planning and facility construction in the region consistent with the adopted Regional Aviation Plan. The regional consortium would provide a forum and mechanisms for developing memoranda of understanding and contractual agreements between airports that would identify complementary roles and market niches between them, so as to maximize utilization of available airport capacities in the region. These agreements would also establish a common framework for coordinating all airport master planning and facility construction consistent with the adopted Regional Aviation Plan, as well as surface transportation policies and programs in the 2004 RTP.

Having served in the military at El Toro, Kogerman has a special interest in the veterans’ memorial and cemetery.

SCAG’s Mike Armstrong said that “Orange County has a substantial airport capacity deficit without El Toro, and an airport in San Diego County could serve a substantial amount of passenger demand from Orange County.” This is unlikely since most OC air passengers are too far from San Diego. 

The SCAG interest in El Toro was, to a large extent, to serve passengers from Los Angeles and counties other than OC.

Daily Pilot, August 7, 2005

Website Editor: Newporters tend to forget that Cox went to bat for them with the FAA to secure an extension of John Wayne’s caps. Someday, the city’s residents may wish that they still had someone from their city with his congressional seniority on their side.

“Hold the line at John Wayne” Tom Harman writes in today’s Daily Pilot.  Harman is “an assemblyman who represents Huntington Beach and plans to run for the state Senate seat held by Sen. John Campbell if Campbell wins a race to replace Rep. Chris Cox.” The Senate district where Harman seeks support includes Newport Beach and Costa Mesa.

He takes the politically safe position for that district: “I strongly believe we must hold the line on the number of annual passengers using John Wayne to the current limits.”

“A regional solution is absolutely necessary. It will require leaders at all levels of government to get involved in the process. Since the decision was made that there is not going to be an airport at El Toro, we must consider our options and look at all of the alternatives. But one thing is certain, we need to think outside the box as we consider what might work. However, before we make any moves that will be virtually irreversible, like raising the caps at John Wayne, we must have a strategy and a plan in place.”

Harman takes the politically safe position - seemingly held by almost every Orange County official - of not having an airport plan. It is politically safe to have no plan since it will attract no criticism. But shouldn’t we be studying ways to serve a reasonable volume of future air passenger demand - for example, by improving access to Ontario - before we decide to permanently cap our only airport?

Note: Orange County's largest source of air travel is to and from the Disneyland area. When we checked prices for Supershuttle vans from Disneyland to the airport today, the quote was $20 to John Wayne, $30 to LAX  and $50 to ONT. Less expensive AirportBus service was offered to John Wayne and LAX but not to Ontario.

“Plans for a Great Park”

”Just-completed plans for development of the Great Park outline mixed-use districts where all the buildings are ‘smart,’ mom-and-pop enterprises are welcome and the military heritage of the old base saluted.”

”Those themes and other clues to how the Great Park will emerge were revealed in a conceptual plan by Lennar Corp., the park’s primary developer.”

Among the plans, created by EDAW Inc., an architectural design firm:

”The main chapel and officers club might be preserved and incorporated into the planned college campus, called the “Lifelong Learning District.” Previous evaluations of the base suggested all the existing buildings at El Toro would be demolished.”

”Lennar also seeks to move two of the planned Great Park districts. In its proposal, the farm area moves from the northeast corner of the old base to the north central site previously designated for commercial recreation, such as an ice rink.”

”The commercial recreation district is eliminated under the Lennar plan.”

”Lennar also suggests moving the planned cemetery; it had been envisioned along the north border of the park but under the plan EDAW created, it would move to a location between the wilderness area and golf course.”

”EDAW and Lennar noted that further revisions in the developed portion of the plan might be made after the Great Park board chooses a master designer for the entire Great Park. Seven finalists now are working on plans for the park; the Great Park Corp. has sent copies of the Lennar plan to all of them.”

 
Website Editor: By our calculations, Lennar owns 2,403 acres of the former base and Irvine's GPC has control over 1,316 acres.

Click for the entire article . . . 

On July 12 we posted that Heritage Fields [Lennar] intends to host a public event at the former airbase.

Hearing nothing more, I pestered about ten key individuals involved with the project in Irvine and with Lennar who might know, writing:

People want to save the date to be sure that they are there for the payoff they worked for – to witness the start of demolition and to go home with a piece of the runways.

Most of those we asked answered with emails saying essentially the same thing:

“Hi Len, I believe that an event is being contemplated for the fall but as yet no detail. Will keep you posted.” . . .  “Heritage Fields is planning the event but it hasn’t been scheduled as yet.” . . .  “We certainly want to do this and you will have plenty of advance notice.”

We did learn from a couple of sources that a small, by invitation only, ‘ceremonial cutting of the runway’ will take place on Monday, August 29. A big public celebration open to everyone is contemplated for a weekend, probably in October.

The President of Recycled Materials Company - the designated runway busters - emailed that “Runway demo will probably be effected by or around end of [the] year. . .  Would be interested in hearing your ideas as to how to actually capture a souvenir piece - I have removed 10 million tons of runway material and can tell you that does not make a very good piece.”  I responded with a plan to cut a small section into suitable trophy or paperwight blocks with a concrete saw used for road repairs, a pry bar and  a hammer. He seemed to think that would work.

Stay tuned.