A CLOSER LOOK -- Scenarios set for John Wayne’s future

Paul Clinton

JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT -- Newport Beach’s idea for the next chapter of the

airport’s future just got a title -- Scenario 1.

The less-than-descriptive label can be found sprinkled throughout an

environmental report released Nov. 20. It refers to the city’s preferred

plan for extending 16-year-old flight restrictions at John Wayne Airport

beyond 2005.

Under Scenario 1, the airport would be allowed to add four more

passenger gates, 1.4 million more passengers annually and 12 more of the

noisiest daily flights.

City officials view the plan, a slight expansion from the airport’s

current levels, as a reasonable compromise to gain the support of a range

of groups -- the Federal Aviation Administration, the airlines, city

residents and others.

“We have so many groups that we have to please,” Newport Beach City

Councilwoman Norma Glover said. “We feel this is the best we can do.”

Right now, limits are in place that cap the number of passengers who

can use the airport at 8.4 million per year. Also, there can be only 73

of the noisiest flights each day.

The airport also has a nighttime curfew. Departures are allowed from 7

a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.

Arrivals are allowed from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and

8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday.

The report, open to public comment until Jan. 7, also includes two

other scenarios for the extension of the 1985 settlement agreement that

put many of the airport’s flight restrictions into place. The curfew was

in place prior to 1985.

The settlement agreement came out of a series of lawsuits filed by the

Airport Working Group and the city in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

As a result, the working group and Stop Polluting Our Newport, both

parties to the settlement, must sign off on any extension.

Under the second option, known as Scenario 2, the airport could grow

to 10.8 million passengers annually. Under the third scenario, no limits

would exist on passenger levels after April 1, 2002.

These two scenarios would basically rewrite the settlement agreement

before it even expires.

And at this point, there is no guarantee that the Orange County Board

of Supervisors wouldn’t choose either of those options, a move that would

no doubt enrage residents on Balboa Peninsula, Balboa Island, Santa Ana

Heights and other neighborhoods most affected by aircraft noise.

While Newport Beach has picked its favorite scenario, county airport

managers have yet to reach a conclusion from the environmental report.

“It covers a wide range of scenarios,” Airport Spokeswoman Ann

McCarley said. “We’re looking at all the scenarios equally at this

point.”

The board is expected to consider the plan early next year.

The environmental analysis also includes three alternatives to the

three scenarios. One alternative would keep the airport status quo, a

second would pull off all limits and the third offers a slightly larger

expansion than the city’s preferred plan.

“[The alternatives] are in the [report] and they are viable,” Glover

said. “I would like to think they would not happen.”

During the preparation of the report, prepared by Costa Mesa-based

Bonterra Consulting, only a handful of agencies and individuals responded

with comment letters.

Margaret Morgan, a Costa Mesa airport activist, pointed to the closed

El Toro Marine Corps Air Station as a better option than the modest

expansion endorsed by Newport Beach.

“If El Toro is opened to commercial traffic, it will be able to handle

the increased traffic for some time in the future and increasing traffic

at JWA won’t be necessary,” Morgan wrote.

The board has approved an airport for the base that would handle 18.8

million passengers a year. However, if county voters approve a Great Park

for the base on March 5, an airport for the base appears unlikely.

* Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may

be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail ato7

[email protected] .