O.C., Newport Hope to Extend Airport Limits

Orange County government officials will help the city of Newport Beach try to extend noise and passenger restrictions at John Wayne Airport beyond 2005, when a federal court agreement limiting its size expires.

Airport, county and city leaders will begin what most concede is an uphill battle to extend the hard-fought restrictions that have capped the size of the airport since 1985. Any decision stemming from the county and city leaders is academic, however, because neither supervisors nor the Newport Beach City Council has authority to extend passenger restrictions beyond 2005 without federal approval.

County Executive Officer Michael Schumacher and John Wayne Airport director Alan Murphy wouldn’t say Tuesday whether they will ask the Federal Aviation Administration or even the airlines that use the airport to join the group.

Tuesday’s decision marked a turnaround. Last month, supervisors balked at extending the curfew and noise restrictions at John Wayne, leaving Newport Beach officials stunned. City officials are worried that without the restrictions, the airport would quickly expand.

But much has changed since that earlier meeting. Last Friday, a Los Angeles County judge overturned a voter initiative that stood in the way of constructing a commercial airport at the former El Toro Marine base. That was seen as a victory for Newport Beach since a second county airport would take off the immediate pressure to expand John Wayne.

Supervisor Tom Wilson, whose district includes John Wayne Airport, said Tuesday that he wanted to keep the initial discussion group limited and let group members decide who else should participate.

“I don’t want a committee of 40 trying to solve the John Wayne issue,” Wilson said. “That would be counterproductive.”

At the suggestion of board Chairman Chuck Smith, Schumacher and county officials planning the airport at El Toro will research whether similar noise and passenger limits can be created for El Toro.

The noise limits and night-time curfew at John Wayne were approved before a pivotal 1990 change in federal law that bars such restrictions. While the law casts doubts on obtaining such a curfew at El Toro, county lawyers are confident the measures in place at John Wayne could remain.

Airport supporters said discussions of the future of John Wayne Airport cannot avoid dealing with El Toro, since the 1985 court agreement requires the county to seek a second airport site to relieve the need to expand John Wayne. If El Toro is not built, it raises the likelihood that John Wayne Airport will be expanded unless the restrictions there remain in place.

Even continued restrictions wouldn’t end the possibility of a future lawsuit, said Tom Naughton, head of the Airport Working Group, a Newport Beach-based group that supports a new airport at El Toro. If El Toro isn’t built, the “pressure would be on” to challenge any limits on a full expansion of John Wayne Airport, he said.

Despite the unease after the supervisors’ meeting last month, county and city leaders in Newport Beach seemed content Tuesday.

“I totally support what we’re going for,” said Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who represents areas under the arrival flight path to John Wayne. He said no single community should be expected to balance the county’s demand for air travel “on their backs.”

In another airport-related matter, supervisors approved a $300,000, 18-month contract starting in June for attorney Mark Mispagel to handle El Toro legal matters. The county quit spending money on El Toro attorneys in April after the passage of the anti-airport ballot initiative.