Santa Monica sued by airport association
The Santa Monica Airport Association is suing the City of Santa Monica, claiming that the city has failed to live up to the requirements of a 1984 airport agreement between the city and the FAA.
According to the airport association, the city secretly created facilities and services for jet operations while failing to create facilities for small piston-powered aircraft. In its lawsuit, the airport association also accuses the city of filing false documents with the FAA that misrepresent the amount of land available for nonaviation uses. Under the agreement with the FAA, the city was supposed to verify that the airport had sufficient land to accommodate 550 based aircraft and 40 transient aircraft before developing airport property for nonaviation uses. Instead, the lawsuit claims, verification was never made, and the city used airport property to create an office park, a dog park, and a soccer field. The 1984 agreement also required the city to accommodate the then-existing mix of aircraft based at the airport, which did not include jet aircraft. Since that time, the lawsuit alleges, the city has promoted development specifically intended to accommodate jet aircraft rather than piston aircraft.
Estimates in for state aeronautical funding
Caltrans Aeronautics estimates that the state operations and grant funding program will be worth approximately $28.4 million over three fiscal years from 2000 through 2003. The money includes about $4.5 million that is being carried over from 1999, while the remaining $23.9 million is based on projected revenues from the excise tax on aviation gasoline and jet fuel used by general aviation aircraft. Caltrans has proposed spending $7.9 million on state operations; $4.5 million on annual grants of $10,000 each to public-use airports; $5.1 million on state matching funds for federal airport improvement grants; and $10.8 million on state capital improvement program grants to airports. Among the projects that could receive state funding are updates of the countywide airport land use plans for Alameda and Riverside counties.
Camarillo, Oxnard fees slated for discussion
Concerns over proposed rate and fee hikes for users of Camarillo and Oxnard airports will be formally addressed by the local airport authority. Authority officials had agreed to put the issue on the agenda for discussion in February. But charges are not the only issue of concern to pilots who use the airports. As elections approach, some worry that candidates for the Ventura County Board of Supervisors and Oxnard City Council will take action on threats to close Oxnard Airport. In the past, some members of both groups have proposed closing the airport and selling the property to pay back federal airport funds. They would then develop the land for other uses. Airport advocates fear that the rhetoric will turn to action in this election year as antiairport groups pressure candidates to take action.
AOPA, pilots scrutinize Sacramento development plans
A proposal to build an apartment complex for senior citizens off of the end of Runway 20 at Sacramento Executive Airport has AOPA and local pilots taking a closer look. The runway is the required runway for jet aircraft at the airport as well as the preferred runway for small aircraft. The proposed development would also be under the approach for Runway 2, which is the airport’s only instrument approach runway and extremely busy during low weather conditions. It’s not yet clear exactly how far from the runway the development would be located, though some estimates put it as close as 2,500 to 3,000 feet. Local pilots are concerned about the encroachment of residential development and fear that projects like this one could lead to curfews or even airport closure.
FAA grants to help Stockton
Stockton Metropolitan Airport expects this to be a busy year as the airport works on improvement projects made possible by FAA grant monies. The airport’s "main" runway (Runway 11L/29R) will be reconstructed, and the smaller "general aviation runway" (Runway 11R/29L) will be lengthened to accommodate business jets during construction. Pilots expect that the added length will become a permanent part of the runway.
Meanwhile, the Aviation Advisory Committee is working on an airport special-purpose plan for development of airport property. The proposal includes a 550-acre business park to attract employment, passengers, and commerce to the area. Retail and hotel areas are included with office space in the plan. Proposed manufacturing and warehouse complexes with direct access to runways are intended to attract air cargo and high-tech companies. An agricultural packing and cold- storage facility already is located adjacent to the field and has direct access to the airport’s runways, as well as a nearby highway. Caltrans is planning to improve a nearby interchange to improve access to the airport and its proposed development.
Riverside County seeking funding for airport plan update
The Riverside County Airport Land Use Commission has asked for a grant from Caltrans Aeronautics to update the countywide Comprehensive Airport Land Use Plan. In the meantime, AOPA and area pilots are hoping that the county will grant a moratorium on residential development and other potentially incompatible developments within a two-mile radius of Chino Airport. Airport users are worried about a proposed residential development called the Eastvale Community Plan. The airport land use commission was presented with the development proposal in December 1998, but the project has languished since then. Although the proposed development would be in Riverside County, it would be located within two nautical miles of Chino Airport, which is in San Bernardino County. Conflicts between the two counties could aggravate issues that arise over the development. The development would create additional problems if the airport carries out its master plan and extends its runways.
Fresno-Chandler master plan wins award
The master plan for Fresno-Chandler Downtown Airport has won a state award. The State Assembly awarded the plan a certificate of recognition, and the Council of Fresno County Governments gave the plan an honorable mention certificate. The plan was made possible through the cooperative efforts of local pilots, including AOPA Airport Support Network volunteer Don Neal, city planners, and consultants.
Moffett seeking ways to increase aviation activity
Officials at NASA’s Federal Moffett Airport are looking for ways to increase the amount of aviation activity at the field. The task is complicated by the fact that airport users must have a collaborative agreement with NASA that spells out how the activity at the airport links with NASA activity. Among the prospects for increased activity are plans for Oracle Electronics to move part of its business operations to Moffett. In addition, United Airlines could become a tenant of the airport under a collaborative agreement set to begin in 2002. In the meantime, the California Air National Guard is building a new hangar facility at the airport. Another possibility for increasing activity and bringing in new revenue is an agreement with a rigid-airship company that would allow the firm to use the dirigible hangars at the airport.
Bay area airports fight antiairport groups
Throughout the Bay Area, airports are coming under fire from antiairport groups for airport expansion proposals included in their master plans. Numerous airports in the region are in the process of updating their master plans, but they are meeting with noisy opposition.
Among the tactics that antiairport groups are employing is demanding a full environmental impact report on each master plan update, as opposed to a simpler and less costly declaration of negative impact. The demand for these reports has increased planning costs by thousands of dollars at a number of airports and slowed the master plan update process.
Homeowners around San Carlos Airport are trying another tactic to prevent airport expansion. They are seeking an "alternative land use study" as part of the environmental impact report. They hope that the land use study would allow them to demonstrate an alternative use for the airport property that would have greater economic advantages for the community.
