Crime & Safety

Gwinnett-Type Airport Issue Was Grounded Before

There are parallels to a situation in Southern California. A former OC resident makes a comparison.

The county is a prominent one in an internationally known metro area. It has no dominant city, yet its collective might -- economically and politically -- is undeniable.

Its population is greater than several U.S. states, and it has as much identity on its own -- through sports, theater and education -- as it does with the urban sprawl that it is part of. It can't live without freeways, yet an increasing number of its residents live, work and play in their own backyards, rather than foray into the urban core. It has its own airport, but its residents still face a long commute for any type of realistic flight. It is struggling economically and needs a shot in the arm from somewhere.

And it has an airport that has becom a major hot potato, for all the reasons mentioned above.

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Think I'm talking about Gwinnett County? Think again. I'm describing Orange County, Calif., home of Disneyland, the Anaheim Angels, Newport Beach and an airport that once caused a furious public fight.

Back in the mid-1990s, The OC, with about 3 million residents, found itself much in the same situation that Gwinnett is in now. John Wayne Airport -- named after that real-life USC alum who had a movie career of note -- caused government and taxpayers to dig in over that familiar acronym: NIMBY.

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The tipping point in the 1990s was the closure of the El Toro Marine base in central OC, part of a national base-shutdown effort. What to do with all that prime real estate?

Orange County government -- and the wealthy powers that be in Newport Beach, close by the current OC airport -- had an answer. Move John Wayne Airport there.

Not so fast, said the citizens who lived in the area. Picture jetliners landing at 3 a.m. Picture the increased traffic along Interstate 5, already to the point where there were no non-peak hours. Picture the taxpayer cost to clean up the toxic-waste problem that admittedly existed at the base.

Picture Measure F, an initiative that went before voters in 2000. It was soundly defeated, and the OC airport remains off I-405 near Newport Beach. And by that time, the county still was unable to gain full control of the land from the Navy. The former base is now a residential development with a Great Park theme, though it has stalled along with the California real estate slump.

There is a major difference between California and Georgia. For all its apparent idiosyncrasies, the Golden State allows voters incredible power. With enough signatures, anything can be put to a public vote. This was never more apparent than in 2003, when voters recalled Gov. Gray Davis in mid-term and elected Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In the airport situation, OC government leaders had to listen to the majority of voters.

In Gwinnett, there's considerable sentiment against commercial use of Briscoe Field. No one needs to apologize for that. If someone pays for a home, they have the right to like or dislike what government leaders propose to change in the areas  around them. Property owners are taxpayers. Tax money pays government leaders' salaries.

The unseen factor -- lobbyists and special interests -- is also there; remember that the $60 million that Gwinnett taxpayers spent for the Gwinnett Braves' stadium was never put to a public vote.

Remember too that if a California-type law existed in Georgia, special interests would not matter. Something that CAN be changed: the law.

(Steve Burns is editor of Suwanee Patch. He lived in Orange County, Calif.,  from 1994-2007.)


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