Airport forum will feature key players

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT BEACH -- Always the hottest topic on the table, John Wayne

Airport will take center stage again tonight at an issue forum.

A panel of political leaders are scheduled to address the city’s

proposal for the extension of flight restrictions at the airport. The

forum will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Riverboat Restaurant at 151 E.

Coast Highway.

Though the flight restrictions won’t expire until 2005, officials at

several government levels have begun work to secure an extension. The

county, Newport Beach and two airport activist groups -- the Airport

Working Group and Stop Polluting Our Newport -- must sign off on any

extension before the 1985 settlement agreement expires Dec. 31, 2005.

In exchange for a 20-year extension of the mandatory curfew on

flights, the city has agreed to ad four gates and 12 more daily

departures at the airport. The city has also agreed to raise the flight

cap from 8.4 million annual passengers to 9.8 million.

An environmental review for the city’s proposal began May 8, when the

Board of Supervisors launched that process.

At the forum, Councilwoman Norma Glover is scheduled to appear, along

with Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva and Gen. Art Bloomer, the

executive director of the Orange County Regional Airport Authority.

Bloomer, an avid proponent of an airport at the former El Toro Marine

Air Station, said John Wayne won’t be the only issue discussed.

In his remarks, Bloomer said he will emphasize the importance of

building an airport at El Toro. The county has proposed an airport at the

base that could handle 28.8 million annual passengers by 2025.

Increases in passenger demand will require an airport at El Toro or an

expansion of John Wayne, Bloomer said.

“If you let John Wayne handle all that future traffic, there will be

more impact on the communities in the north” of the county, Bloomer said.

“They’ll pay a heavy price.”

The forum is sponsored by Speak Up Newport, a nonpartisan, nonprofit

group dedicated to promoting social welfare, educating the public and

improving local government.