El Toro Prospects Soar: Judge Voids Measure F

In a move that puts the stalled El Toro airport back on track, a judge ruled Friday that voters cannot usurp the Orange County government’s authority to build a commercial airport at the closed Marine base.

The decision resuscitates plans to build Southern California’s second largest airport and also might embolden local governments across the region to site controversial projects without fear of being overruled by the initiative and referendum process.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge S. James Otero struck down Orange County’s Measure F, declaring it “fundamentally flawed” and in violation of the California Constitution and state laws. The initiative, which would have required two-thirds voter approval for some major public works projects, was passed by 67% of Orange County voters in March.

“The judiciary should generally not involve itself in the initiative process,” Otero said in his 17-page ruling. “However, courts are sometimes compelled to do so.”

The decision may have ramifications in other Southern California communities where airport-expansion plans are being fought, and it will be studied by other municipalities for its impact on voter measures.

UCLA law professor Jody Freeman called the decision “a shot across the bow. [Measure F] was an attempt at local control, but clearly it was an unlawful attempt. It suggests that city councils and county governments and everyone involved need to look at the measures they have been passing.”

“This ruling could have very far-reaching implications for one of the most dramatic changes going on in land-use planning in California today,” said Mark Baldassare, executive director of the San Francisco-based, nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. “This will be very, very closely studied by local elected officials, and opponents and proponents of growth around the state because of the constitutional questions over the power of the elected supervisors.”

Airport Advocates See Total Victory

Orange County officials hailed the decision, saying it clears the way for an airport that could serve 28.8 million passengers by 2020. As planned, El Toro, near the convergence of the Santa Ana and San Diego freeways, would handle more than three times the passengers who use John Wayne Airport but less then half the 64 million passengers using Los Angeles International Airport.

“There’s nothing left standing of Measure F,” said Tom Edwards, an El Toro airport advocate and former mayor of Newport Beach, where city officials have fought 25 years for another airport to share the burden with John Wayne. “Not even James Baker or Warren Christopher could put a good spin on this.”

But stunned airport opponents vowed to appeal, and to draft a new ballot measure to reverse a 1994 countywide vote that narrowly approved an airport at the base. Otero said in his ruling that repealing the 1994 measure would be one way for voters to kill an airport plan.

“The airport is dead and everyone knows it,” south Orange County anti-airport activist Leonard Kranser said of the overwhelming voter support for Measure F. “We just need to figure out how to bury it.”

Friday’s ruling was welcomed warmly from Newport Beach to El Segundo, where residents want El Toro built to help their fight against plans by Los Angeles to expand LAX.

The decision means Orange County must do its share and cannot foist its airline passengers onto other airports, said El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon.

“This is a fabulous day for us,” he said. “Orange County has to be part of the answer. It can’t just stick its head in the sand.”

Last month, Burbank voters passed a measure requiring a vote before the airport terminal there can be moved or expanded. City officials said their airport measure, which passed by a 4-to-1 ratio, is on firmer legal ground than Measure F because the city has zoning authority over the airport.

Measure F would let voters decide whether Orange County supervisors could build a new airport, a large jail within a half-mile of homes or a hazardous-waste landfill.

Otero’s ruling, which came 81 days after oral arguments, struck down the measure on several grounds, saying it thwarted the state-given authority of the Board of Supervisors, interfered with “essential government functions,” was unconstitutionally vague and violated a rule that initiatives must pertain to only one subject. He inherited the court challenge after judges in Orange County recused themselves.

Airports, jails and hazardous-waste landfills are essential responsibilities of local governments, Otero wrote. “Although these powers may be subject to restrictions under the initiative process, an initiative cannot be used to greatly impair or wholly destroy those powers,” he said.

The judge did not address one major constitutional challenge to the measure: that a local initiative cannot require government projects to be approved by a supermajority two-thirds of voters.

Polling Provides Sober Reminder

Planning for the airport was unaffected by Friday’s ruling. The county expects to complete an environmental analysis of the plan by September 2001--a process that had been delayed nearly 18 months in the face of anti-airport challenges.

“From my perspective, I’m operating with the same direction today that I had yesterday,” said Rob Richardson, interim El Toro program manager.

Despite their victory, pro-airport forces acknowledged that one message of Measure F remains: Supervisors must restore credibility to the El Toro airport planning process. In recent opinion polls, only about a third of voters believe a new airport is necessary.

“The message in Measure F is clear in that the people want a greater say in the process,” said Board Chairman Chuck Smith, who was in Ohio visiting relatives on Friday and made comments through an aide. “We need to do a better job with community outreach and ensure the public’s involvement.”

Businessman George Argyros, who has helped bankroll the pro-airport effort with $3.5 million of his own money since 1994, hailed Friday’s decision but said he expects the fight over El Toro to continue.

“There comes a time when the voters have to wake up,” he said. “I hope they take a more realistic look at [the airport proposal] now and ask for the truth.”

Argyros said county supervisors should move quickly to address the concerns of El Toro’s neighbors and embrace his proposal for an airport half the size of the one planned. Pro-airport county officials have been steadfast in saying a new airport must be studied for its maximum potential impact and that it can be reduced in size later.

Argyros declined to say how long he’d be willing to continue funding the battle to get El Toro off the ground.

“I don’t know what I’m willing to do,” he said. “I want the county to get on with it. I want to get out of the way. Who wouldn’t?”

Other airport advocates throughout Orange County joined Argyros in urging the supervisors to become more aggressive in promoting the airport and establishing why it is needed--not only for Orange County but the rest of Southern California.

“I think they ought to go full speed ahead,” said Garden Grove Councilman Mark Rosen, a member of a 16-city coalition that favors an El Toro airport. “This gives the county a chance to start over with strong leadership and tell the county’s side of the story. There has been a tremendous mismatch in spending [against the airport]. That needs to be corrected.”

Anti-airport forces, meanwhile, dismissed the judge’s decision as temporary.

“We’re not naive. We knew we had to go the full 12 rounds in this battle,” said Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who represents South County communities near the base. He said airport opponents are riding a “freight train of momentum” that ultimately will be unstoppable.

Supervisor Tom Wilson, who with Spitzer opposes the airport, said Otero’s decision is not the final answer. “I don’t want the folks to lose faith,” he said. “We’ll continue in our resolve. It’s time to muster the troops, regroup and develop a strategy to take this fight to the next level.”

Airport opponents vowed to file an appeal of the decision later this month and ask an appellate court to reinstate Measure F pending the appeal.

At the Newport Beach public relations firm Waters & Faubel, Meg Waters, spokeswoman for the eight-city anti-airport coalition, turned wide-eyed Friday morning as she took the news over speakerphone. She was expecting a very different response, with an unopened bottle of champagne resting on a nearby bookshelf.

“Nothing about El Toro has ever been easy,” she said later. “Neither side has the slightest intention of giving up.”

* Times staff writers David Reyes, Monte Morin, Mike Anton and Hector Becerra contributed to this report.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

El Toro Timeline

1993

June 26 - Federal panel votes to close El Toro Marine Corps Air Station

*

1994

Nov. 8 - Measure A, which calls for a commercial airport at El Toro, wins by a thin margin

Dec. 20 - Supervisors vote to exclude Lake Forest and Irvine from base reuse planning, causing a rift with south Orange County cities

*

1996

Feb. 9 - In a blow to airport foes, judge finds Measure A “valid and lawful”

March 26 - Measure S, which seeks to block an airport at El Toro, fails decisively

April 12 - County officials unveil plan for international airport capable of serving 38 million passengers a year

Nov. 21 - County planning commissioners approve environmental impact report, call international airport best use for El Toro

Dec. 11 - Supervisors agreed to study airport capable of serving 25 million passengers annually with a rail line linking El Toro and John Wayne Airport

*

1997

Jan. 9 - South County cities file suit to block plans for an airport at El Toro

* 1999

March 30 - Supervisors agreed to study 28.8 million passenger international airport, after dropping the suggested rail link.

June 4 - County officials conduct flight demonstration at El Toro, monitor decibel readings in residential areas

July 2 - Marines hold closing ceremonies for El Toro base

Dec. 23 - Draft environmental impact report doubles El Toro airport price tag to $2.9 billion, concedes south county will suffer “significant” jet noise

*

2000

March 8 - Anti-airport Measure F wins 67.3% of ballots in countywide vote.

Dec. 1 - In a blow to El Toro airport foes, a judge throws out the measure, calling it “fundamentally flawed.”

Source: Times reports

Reporting by BRADY MacDONALD / Los Angeles Times