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Chronology
of Development of Great Park at El Toro
EL TORO E-NEWS
BULLETIN - January 2004
From the volunteer-run El Toro Info Site
http://www.eltoroairport.org
Here are a few of the stories that made our
website headlines, which we continue to update daily:
JANUARY - After a seesaw court
battle over the legality of Measure V, Orange County voters win the right
to elect Todd Spitzer's replacement on the Board of Supervisors. Bill
Campbell wins the special election. With Campbell, Tom Wilson and Chris
Norby, El Toro opponents have a 3-2 majority on the board for the first
time.
FEBRUARY - The Board of Supervisors
rescinds previous County plans for an airport at El Toro.
MARCH - The Board votes, 3-2, to
approve a pre-annexation tax-sharing agreement with Irvine giving the
County 82 percent of the revenue from El Toro. Supervisors Smith and Silva
vote "No".
APRIL - Supervisors vote to withdraw
Orange County from the Orange County Regional Airport Authority, OCRAA,
and the Southern California Regional Airport Authority, SCRAA.
JUNE - A secret attempt by Los
Angeles to takeover El Toro, and run it in conjunction with LAX, is
exposed. State Senator Ken Murray introduces a bill in the legislature
backing the plan. Supervisors Smith and Silva write to Transportation
Secretary Mineta, endorsing the attempt. The Navy and FAA say "No".
In the resultant controversy, the Board
dumps Smith as O.C.'s representative to the Southern California
Association of Governments, SCAG.
The Newport Beach based Airport Working
Group (AWG) sues to try to block Irvine annexation of the former base.
JULY - The Board votes, 3-2 to
rescinds El Toro-related avigation easements.
SEPTEMBER - Controversy mounts over
LA Mayor Hahn's $9 billion plan to remodel LAX, reduce the number of gates
to restrict its capacity, and to build a remote passenger check in
facility.
The Great Park Corporation forms to manage
the park development.
OCTOBER - The Southern California
Association of Governments, SCAG, releases its draft 2004 regional
transportation plan. El Toro airport is dropped from the plan.
NOVEMBER - The Airport Working Group
settles its lawsuit against the Department of Defense without achieving
its goal of delaying the Navy's sale of the base.
The Local Agency Formation Commission,
LAFCO, approves Irvine's annexation of El Toro.
DECEMBER - The AWG stalls the
annexation into January 2004.
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PREDICTIONS FOR 2004:
Our predictions for 2003 came pretty close.
See
http://www.eltoroairport.org/news/news-1202.html#1230-2002
Despite AWG stalling tactics, Irvine's
annexation of the base will become official in January and the Navy's land
auction will follow. Completion of the sale, transfer of title, and
demolition of the runways will drag on longer than originally expected.
El Toro advocates will try to use the
additional time to resurrect their plans. Diehards from Orange County and
Los Angeles will lobby Sacramento and Washington for an El Toro airport
under Los Angeles control. When they fail, THE GAME FINALLY WILL BE OVER.
Until then, we will have plenty of El Toro
news to report. Stay tuned.
Details on the above stories can be
accessed in the website's seven-years of archived news.
http://www.eltoroairport.org/news.html
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POSTED JANUARY 6, 2004 ***
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