Cities unite for talks on airports

In an unprecedented meeting of the city councils of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, the two cities agreed to share the cost of fighting John Wayne Airport expansion and hold annual meetings to discuss airport issues among other actions.

Council members at the meeting Tuesday night called it “historic” and “monumental,” saying that presenting a united front to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, the Federal Aviation Administration and other decision-making bodies would give the cities more bargaining power.

The officials voted unanimously for the memorandum of understanding between the cities.

Both Costa Mesa and Newport Beach politicians have frequently opposed increases in the amount of passengers flying out of John Wayne, saying that the noise flights generate deteriorates residents’ quality of life, but up until this point Newport Beach has been far more active in doing something about it.

Newport Beach negotiated the initial agreement with the airport that caps passengers at 10.8 million per year, and during the battle to establish an airport at El Toro — a proposal favored by both cities — Newport Beach spent about $2 million over a two-year period lobbying for the action.

“It’s time for the rest of us to step up and take a little bit of the financial responsibility off of Newport Beach,” Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder said.

The memorandum also called for Costa Mesa and Newport Beach to reach out to other “corridor cities,” like Santa Ana, Tustin, Orange and Irvine, to get them to join in the effort.

Newport Beach Councilman Steve Rosansky applauded the idea, but said it wasn’t enough to just include nearby cities, the whole county should be invited to come on board so that a consensus among the county supervisors could be guaranteed.

The night’s other order of business was to hear a presentation on the results of a study commissioned by both cities using $200,000 in funds from the Orange County Transportation Authority.

As part of a program called “Go Local,” cities throughout Orange County were each given $100,000 to study possible ground transportation possibilities connecting the cities to the Metrolink system.

The study included a survey of about 2,500 John Wayne travelers who were asked where they were coming from, where they were going and why.