A n airport is currently being planned for El Toro because of the passage of Measure A in 1994. That ballot measure changed the basic land use law in Orange County to mandate the airport use. In order to allow for implementation of a better use for El Toro, as proposed in the non-aviation Millennium Plan, county law must be changed. With a majority of the Board of Supervisors still in favor of an airport, the only way to change the law is with the qualification and passage of an initiative. Qualification of an initiative requires the collection of 72,109 valid signatures.
State law allows up to six months for the collection effort.
The TRP organization is familiar with the qualification of initiatives from the Measure S effort in 1996 in collection of over 105,000 signatures. The contents of the initiative are currently being carefully reviewed by attorneys and political experts to guarantee that the measure will withstand any legal challenges and that it will pass in an election. Details on the provisions of the proposed initiative being developed, as well as a history of its development, are covered in the story on page 3. Legal Efforts T his year promises to bring continued success to TRP s legal efforts against the airport. A decision on that appeal is expected by January 2000.