Shrink Argyros says proposed size must be halved for any hope of success.
Critics see a bait and switch.
The airport plan is vehemently opposed by neighboring cities and residents. So far, a majority of the board has stuck to the plan to build a commercial airport at the 4,700-acre base that would handle 28.8 million passengers a year by 2020. Board Chairman Chuck Smith insisted last week that changing the county's plan now would jeopardize an ongoing review by the Federal Aviation Administration and could stop the Navy's process of handing the property over to the county. I'm not about to stall the process for a couple of years. I think that's automatic.