L.A.'s bid for El Toro doesn't fly By JEFF ROWE The Orange County Register The Navy Thursday discounted last-minute efforts by Los Angeles to resurrect a commercial-airport plan for El Toro. The Navy is working to auction land at the old air base as part of the Great Park plan, said Lt. Cmdr. Pauline Storum, a spokeswoman for the Navy in Washington. "The Navy has no plans to change its course of action," Storum said. She added that the Department of Transportation "has no jurisdiction over the property." Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Newport Beach, said the Navy has told him the same thing. Cox also said the federal Transportation Department told him it is referring all inquiries on El Toro to the Department of Defense. And a "For Sale" ad in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week offers 3,700 acres of the former El Toro base, referring readers to the www.heritagefields.com Web site, the marketing name for the old base. The ad boosted traffic to the Web site 30 percent and generated about 80 telephone calls, some from as far away as the Middle East, said Colliers Seeley, the real estate marketer for the base. Auction of the land is expected in early fall, after Irvine completes the annexation of the property. None of this is dissuading pro-airport forces from pushing to convert El Toro into a commercial airport. In a resolution Thursday, the Orange County Regional Airport Authority said "it's time to rise above local selfish interest and do the right thing for the greater good of the Southern California region." Post 9-11 security procedures have exacerbated airport crowding and made finding new airports imperative, said Jack Wagner, retired Marine Corps colonel and executive director of the authority. Fourteen north-county cities are members of the group. To unravel plans for the parks, housing and commercial development at the old base, Congress would have to create legislation authorizing the Department of Transportation to operate an airport at El Toro. And Congress adjourns for all of August, which is when Irvine is expecting the final approval it needs to annex the old base. That decision will come from the Local Agency Formation Commission, which oversees cities' annexations. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, concedes that winning approval for an El Toro airport is a long shot. But, he says, "it's the most attractive and opportune airport site in the U.S." The renewed ruckus over El Toro began in April when Los Angeles city officials and the Board of Airport Commissioners sent a letter to the U.S. Transportation Department asking for assistance in converting El Toro to a commercial airport. Neither the department nor the Navy has responded to L.A.'s April 9 letter. "It is a source of great relief to me that the Navy is honoring its word and the will of the people," said Irvine Mayor Larry Agran. Separately, the Irvine City Council is looking into forming a nonprofit corporation to manage the four public parks and museum district that are planned as part of the development of the old base. In all, about one-third of the base property would be dedicated to public ownership under what is called the Great Park plan. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.carib-link.net/naparima/naps.html TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************