UCI

Residents also dissatisfied with way county is handling El Toro airport issue, according to UC Irvine's 1997 Orange County Annual Survey

Irvine, Calif., Oct. 6, 1997 -- Despite two ballot measures and years of debate over the proposal to build a commercial airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, less than one quarter of Orange County's residents consider this the best reuse option for the base, according to UC Irvine's 1997 Orange County Annual Survey.
"After all this time and discussion, there's been no progress in reaching consensus about the airport, and the survey shows that many residents are interested in other options," said UCI professor Mark Baldassare, who conducted the survey along with research associate Cheryl Katz.
"The number of people who would like to see the base used as an education center is about the same as the number favoring an airport," Katz added.
While residents remain deeply divided in their views on the best way to redevelop the military base, there is a significant amount of agreement on one point: dissatisfaction with the way county government is handling the issue.
"Less than one quarter of residents approve of the leadership the county has provided on this issue," Baldassare said. "This is a pretty negative view of the way county government has handled a critical land use decision that has major implications for the county's development in the 21st century."
This is the first time the Orange County Annual Survey has asked residents for their opinions about various options for reuse of the El Toro base. The random-sample survey, conducted by telephone Sept. 4-14, questioned 1,002 adult residents. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.
Following are the key findings from the special section of the survey measuring attitudes toward development of a commercial airport at El Toro:

• Only 41 percent of residents support the proposal to turn the closing military base into a commercial airport, while 48 percent are opposed. Sixty-eight percent of South County residents oppose the airport, and only 25 percent are in favor. In the North County, support for a new airport just edges out opposition (46 percent to 41 percent).

• Residents also were asked what future use they "most prefer" for the base. Twenty-four percent favor a commercial airport, while 23 percent would like to see an education center at the 4,700-acre base. Even in North County, fewer than three in 10 residents name an airport as the most preferred use. In South County, an education center is favored over an airport by a 10-point margin.

Other uses favored by Orange County residents include: public park, 15 percent; sports arena and entertainment complex, 12 percent; residential and commercial development, 11 percent, and regional transit center, 5 percent.

• Forty-three percent of residents disapprove of the way county government is handling the base conversion issue. Twenty-three percent expressed approval and 34 percent were unsure. Disapproval is as high as 59 percent in the South County. Even in the North County, more residents disapprove than approve (38 percent to 24 percent).

• Forty-nine percent of residents would prefer to rely on John Wayne airport alone to meet Orange County's air travel needs, while 34 percent want airports at both John Wayne and El Toro. Only 11 percent want to close John Wayne and develop El Toro as the county's only commercial airport.

The 1997 Orange County Annual Survey is the 16th conducted by Baldassare, who is professor and chair of urban and regional planning in the UCI School of Social Ecology and a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, where he is writing a book about the Orange County bankruptcy.