AOPA fights residential plans near Watsonville airport
AOPA President Phil Boyer and Vice President of Airports Bill Dunn met with Watsonville city officials to add national pressure to protect Watsonville Municipal Airport. The city is considering allowing more incompatible land use, including residential development that would threaten the airport.
Boyer reminded Mayor Ana Ventura Pheres that once the airport is gone, there's no getting it back. He told the mayor that the airport is a critical transportation element not only for the state, but also for the nation.
Watsonville is the only public-use airport in Santa Cruz County, and it was a critical emergency transportation link for relief efforts following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Boyer also committed to working with local pilots to stage an airport job fair to show area youth aviation employment opportunities.
Apple Valley addresses dangers of homes near airports
The Apple Valley Town Council met to discuss changing potentially incompatible residential zoning on 2,000 acres near Apple Valley Airport to a more suitable light-industrial classification. City officials said they regard the airport area as the best place for light industry, including research and development firms. They also said they want to prevent residential encroachment that would be detrimental to the airport.
Livermore opposition feared over disclosure law
At the moment, California's 2004 airport disclosure law to aid property buyers requires notification in only a small area near Livermore Municipal Airport. But that could change, and trigger public opposition to the airport, if the city's Airport Advisory Commission is successful in widening the disclosure not only to all of Livermore, but also to Pleasanton, Dublin, and Sunol.
The newly established Coalition for Livermore Airport is supporting widening the disclosure area. The coalition is emphasizing the importance and value of the airport to Livermore and the Tri-Valley area.
The Contra Costa Times reported that the author of the law, Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), said it is strictly a disclosure law and is not aimed at controlling development near airports. The newspaper reported the law requires notification only of property owners in a small area, and that it is slightly larger than the airport protection zone, extending roughly a mile in each direction from the runways. New development in the area is currently prohibited by previous county restrictions.
Camarillo Airport to get city water
Camarillo Airport officials have negotiated with a local developer who will pay for city water to be extended to the airport. The developer's project to expand an existing outlet mall would have resulted in loss of protected airspace once used for precision approaches on the original length of the old Air Force runway. (It has now been shortened from 10,000 to 6,000 feet.) Airport officials conceded the currently unused protected airspace in return for city water that replaces the present well water. The project does not preclude future attempts to establish a precision approach at the airport.
The city will take over the airport water system and make $3 million in improvements to keep the water free of contamination. Currently three of the four wells serving the airport are saline contaminated.
The airport will pay back the city by leaving the water bills at their current high levels. Once the $3 million is reimbursed, the water bills will be reduced to the current city rates.
Paso Robles turns to AOPA for security concerns
Airport security at the Paso Robles Municipal Airport is being improved, and AOPA Airport Support Network volunteer Stan Levanduski is playing a key role.
Airport manager Roger Oxborrow said he has funds for fencing, but he added that he wants to hear more from Levanduski about AOPA's Airport Watch program. The 1,350-acre airport has fencing around buildings and hangars, and vineyards have placed fencing on parts of the perimeter. There is an FAA grant for fencing along 1,500 feet of the eastern perimeter of the airport.
The Airport Watch program, praised by federal officials who themselves face tight budgets, is a low-cost program that encourages airport users to self-police their airports. They accomplish that by being aware of unusual activity and keeping the airport community on watch, just as neighborhoods have for decades by establishing neighborhood watch programs.
AOPA is supplying Levanduski with videos, brochures, and other tools to implement the program at Paso Robles Municipal Airport. He will first give a presentation on the program to local airport officials.
In other news, the Paso Robles Jet Center was scheduled to open a flight school as early as July.
McClellan-Palomar manager retires
Floyd Best, manager of the McClellan-Palomar Airport, has retired after 10 years, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Before becoming manager he was assistant manager for three years. During that time the airport has emerged as a base for corporate jet travel, the newspaper reported. He departed the post May 30. He left behind an airport in the midst of expansion that will see new hangars, a terminal, and a restaurant.
Santa Paula to open for seventy-fifth anniversary
The river-damaged runway at Santa Paula Airport will be filled in enough (solid fill for 75 feet from the runway center- line) to meet state requirements for paving and will reopen the runway by late July. That's not a minute too soon, considering that the airport's seventy-fifth-anniversary airshow and celebration takes place August 6 and 7. The airport will be closed for the celebration, but flybys of antique and interesting aircraft will be permitted via airspace waivers. The project will be funded by a loan and by money from the federal Natural Resources Conservation Services.
In the meantime, the privately owned and operated airport is looking for a government sponsor that would make it eligible for federal airport funding. Pilots voted not to adopt the county as a sponsor because it has been successfully run by pilots for its entire existence. The county would gain control of operations if it were to become a sponsor.
Upcoming aviation events in California
August
12 — Auburn. Auburn Municipal Airport (AUN). Thunder in the Sky Dinner and Dance. Call Susan Wozniak, 530/863-3497.
13 — Auburn. Auburn Municipal Airport (AUN). 2005 Thunder in the Sky Airfair. Call Susan Wozniak, 530/863-3497.
13 — Truckee. Truckee-Tahoe Airport (TRK). Pancake Breakfast and Young Eagles Flights. Call Charlie White, 530/587-4811.
20 — Riverside. Flabob Airport (RIR). Photographs and home movies from Oshkosh 2005. Call Gerry Curtis, 909/446-8410.
27-28 — Camarillo. Camarillo Airport (CMA). Camarillo Air Show. Call Larry Beckett, 805/383-0686.
"Calendar" is updated weekly on the Web ( www.aopa.org/pilot/calendar/). Weekend flying destinations are posted each Friday in AOPA ePilot.
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