Parking Fee Changes OKd for John Wayne Airport

SANTA ANA — The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a major overhaul of parking rates at John Wayne Airport that encourage travelers to park in lots located a distance away from the main terminal.

Some parking rates will rise while others will fall under the plan, which is expected to keep overall parking revenue at its present level. Officials said the vast majority of those who use the airport’s six lots will see no change or a slight decrease in their fees.

The board approved the plan on a 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Jim Silva saying he could not support it because a small percentage of users would see a fee increase.

“It’s already so expensive for a family to go on vacation,” Silva said. “I feel uncomfortable changing this rate structure.”

The new schedule, which goes into effect later this month, sets parking rates at the four lots closest to the main terminal at $11 a day. Currently, the lots charge $7 to $14 a day.

Parking at the two “long-term” lots located about half a mile from the airport terminal will continue to cost $7 a day. The $1-per-hour rate now charged by all six lots will not change.

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Kathleen Capini Chambers, spokeswoman for John Wayne Airport, said the plan makes parking rates more consistent and gives visitors a financial incentive to park at the long-term lots, which some travelers avoid because of their distance from the main terminal.

But the public will have little choice but to use the long-term lots beginning in October, when the county begins construction of two new parking levels above a lot located directly in front of the terminal.

While the project will eventually add 2,000 spaces, it will temporarily remove hundreds of spaces from use.

Despite Silva’s concerns, other supervisors expressed support for the plan. Board of Supervisors Chairman William G. Steiner noted that the new rates are lower than the $16 fees charged by Los Angeles International Airport.

In other action Tuesday, the board approved the county’s annual plan for distributing $7.2 million in grants from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The money will go to pay for a variety of street improvements as well as fund dozens of nonprofit organizations that serve people in need.

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The $7.2-million allocation from the federal government is a reduction from last year, when the county received about $8.1 million. As a result, some nonprofit groups received smaller grants this year while others received nothing at all.

Representatives of several battered-women’s shelters, homeless services organizations and other groups said the cutbacks could result in reduced services. The Vietnamese League of Orange County, which provides housing assistance to the needy, saw its federal grant drop from $25,000 last year to $10,000 this year.

Some supervisors expressed hope that the organization could receive additional money later this year from redevelopment tax revenue. But officials said they are not sure if any revenue will be available.

The board also agreed to exempt residents of Santa Ana and Stanton from a welfare reform measure that cut off food stamp benefits to more than 1,000 able-bodied adults in Orange County.

The exemption, approved by the federal government last month for areas with high unemployment rates, will continue food stamp benefits for at least six months to recipients who live in the two cities.

The measure passed on a 3-2 vote, with Silva and Supervisor Todd Spitzer opposing it.

Silva said the food stamp recipients should be able to find jobs in other parts of the county where the unemployment rate is lower.

“We are talking about able-bodied people who could be out in the world working.” he said. “If a person lives in Stanton, they can walk across Beach Boulevard and get a job in Garden Grove.”