Cubreporter (Cubreporter)
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Post Number: 9
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, October 07, 2006 - 11:51 am: | |
Saturday, October 7, 2006
The agreement
Lets Newport veto a second commercial runway at John Wayne Airport. The city is in the flight path of departing airplanes and has long sought such control.Gives Newport $500,000 for a new park in Santa Ana Heights and lets the city scrap plans to extend a recreational trail.Provides for study of Back Bay wildlife habitat and public access.
Saturday, October 7, 2006
Deal lets city veto JWA growth
If a pact years in the making is approved, Newport could block runway expansion but not annex land at the airport.
By JEFF OVERLEY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
An accord to give Newport Beach veto power over expansion at John Wayne Airport has been hammered out after nearly three years of talks, officials said Friday.
In the deal between Newport and county officials, the city could reject any effort to build a second commercial runway at the county-run airport. Lengthening the existing commercial runway southward would also have to pass muster with Newport, where residents have long chafed at the din of jets overhead.
"It certainly doesn't solve the John Wayne issue for us, but I think it removes a substantial long-term threat to this community," City Manager Homer Bludau said.
Plans already approved for adding gates and expanding the airport's terminal, and a cap on passengers that lasts through 2015, would not be affected.
The pact, in the works since late 2003, also calls for a review of services in Upper Newport Bay and Lower Newport Bay.
Newport's bid for control of redevelopment in Santa Ana Heights, a focus of negotiations in the past year, failed to materialize but could re-emerge, Bludau said.
The plan awaits approval by Newport's City Council on Tuesday and by the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 17.
JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT
Saying the roar of departing jets harms residents' quality of life, Newport long has sought to control growth at John Wayne Airport, where 85 commercial jets depart each day on a path over the city.
The city lobbied for the failed El Toro airport in hope of eliminating the need for expansion at John Wayne. Its past annexation of land near the airport had the added benefit of boosting the city's clout on airport issues.
In return for control of runway expansion, Newport agreed not to annex land at John Wayne.
It will also limit housing near the aviation hub.
Some airport watchers say the proposed pact doesn't go far enough. A settlement agreement capping annual passengers at 10.8 million expires after 2015. The city is vulnerable if the deal is renegotiated, said former Mayor Evelyn Hart, a member of AirFair, a group that has pushed for limits on growth at John Wayne.
"My No. 1 concern is ... to limit the number of passengers going out of there," said Hart, speaking for herself and not her group.
Former Newport Mayor Dennis O'Neil, however, called the pact a "real milestone."
"This may even be more significant than extending the settlement agreement because there's not a whole bunch more capacity out there that JWA can handle without" adding or expanding runways, O'Neil said.
Airport Director Alan Murphy said there is no plan to add or enlarge runways. He wouldn't speculate on future passenger caps, but said John Wayne is "about at the limit of what it can do."
Rick Taylor, a member of the nonprofit Airport Working Group, criticized the closed-door talks that led to the agreement. "History tells us when things like this are done behind closed doors, things usually go wrong," Taylor said.
Officials have said the sensitive discussions required tight lips.
SANTA ANA HEIGHTS
For all the progress on the airport, a clause affecting the Santa Ana Heights neighborhood could hinder the agreement, some say.
The county will pay $500,000 for a new park, a move most residents support.
But another provision lets the city scrap plans to extend a recreational trail. Residents are split on the idea.
Barbara Venezia, leader of a neighborhood advisory group, said that while residents largely back the airport provisions, they will fight to expand the trail. "Protest over this small trail issue ... could cause this whole agreement to slow down, be in controversy or, worst, not be approved," she said.
Hart called the clause an "unusual rider" on the larger agreement.
County Supervisor Jim Silva defended the provision.
"I've always felt that Santa Ana Heights was concerned about the airport," Silva said. "If (residents) want to cast that aside because of a horse trail, that's surprising."
BACK BAY
In a bit of horse-trading, Newport had offered to take control of some services in the Back Bay. But because of the preserve's appeal throughout the county, officials decided only to study the area's management. "The county really sees the Upper Bay as a jewel and a regional resource, and they were a little fearful we would try to put a local face on it," Bludau said.
Lori Kiesser, leader of the Upper Newport Bay Sierra Club Task Force, welcomed the news. "With regard to the (study) ... that's a great idea," Kiesser said. "Without that we really don't know the best way to manage the bay."
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