FAA says no to Bakersfield closing plan
The FAA has officially denied a January request by the Bakersfield City Council to close Bakersfield Municipal Airport in a September 8 letter to Bakersfield Mayor Harvey L. Hall, and signed by FAA Acting Associate Administrator for Airports Catherine M. Lang. The January letter had been sent to the FAA's Western-Pacific Airports Division, but was answered by FAA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
AOPA President Phil Boyer said Lang's action supports AOPA's efforts and general aviation pilots everywhere, but also brings hope to all embattled airports in which federal funds are invested.
AOPA Airport Support Network volunteer Richard Osborn provided early warning last year to AOPA headquarters of the council's plans. AOPA has worked with him and other pilots since late 2005 to save Bakersfield Municipal.
A chief opponent of the airport, Councilwoman Irma Carson, said she plans to contact Lang and tell her the refusal to allow the airport to close is "unfair to the people of the neighborhood. Terrorists train [at such airports] but that is just a rumor. It is a blight on the neighborhood." She added she "could not have done it alone" and that the entire council had voted to close Bakersfield Municipal. Carson also said the airport is unsafe because it does not have a tower and added that pilots do not file flight plans.
Councilwoman Sue Benham, who first hung up on a reporter after he identified himself as being with AOPA, said in a second call minutes later that although she voted with the council to close the airport, "I am not an airport opponent."
Councilman Mike Maggard agreed that although the entire council voted to allow the FAA "to comment" on the proposed closing, it does not mean the entire council opposed the airport. He and other city officials said it was the first time they had heard of Carson's mentioning terrorism as an argument against the airport.
The FAA considered the letter not an opportunity to comment, but an official request for closure and release from federal obligations. The obligations require the city to repay federal money invested in the airport, but since federal money in this case was involved in the land purchase in the 1980s, the obligation becomes not the repayment of the federal $10 million investment, but a stated requirement to keep the airport open for public use "in perpetuity."
Carson's charge that the airport is a blight on the community was, in fact, actual wording to the FAA by the city in January. Lang answered each of the city's arguments in a 10-page letter, but said federal law required her to consider only one, safety. The other arguments are not recognized by the FAA as a basis for closure.
The first argument was that the city has lost $27,392 operating the airport. Lang said the city's own report of summaries and expenditures shows an average yearly surplus of $42,000 per year. She expressed concern that the city is not soliciting or accepting proposals for airport-tenant-financed improvements, and is not granting long-term leases. One investor, for example, is waiting for approval to build a new restaurant at Bakersfield Municipal.
A second argument was that the airport is underutilized, but Lang wrote that the argument "is not supported by the facts." More than 80 aircraft are based at Bakersfield Municipal and there is a waiting list for hangars. The third argument was that the airport is a blight on the community, Carson's argument, and that it stands in the way of needed development. "This would not be allowed in any other part of town," she said. Carson wants a "walking community" and shops to be built on the airport site. Lang wrote that the airport did not perpetuate the blighted conditions that exist in the area. She added that the airport has been identified by the city as an element of its economic development strategies, but the city has changed its priorities toward commercial, retail, and residential housing. A 2006 state inspection found the airport to be well maintained.
Safety issues were raised because Bakersfield Municipal is only 11 miles from Meadows Field Airport and may cause air traffic conflicts. Lang said the FAA investigated complaints of air traffic conflicts several years ago and put new safety enhancements in place that addressed the concerns.
Finally, Lang rejected the city's idea that Bakersfield Municipal's tens of thousands of yearly operations can simply be dumped into Meadows Field's commercial airline operations, where restrictions already exist on general aviation and flight-training activities such as practice approaches.
Buffer zone approved around Stockton
San Joaquin County officials have approved a ban on residential and commercial development within two miles of Stockton Metropolitan Airport, according to a report in The Stockton Record. Hearings and environmental reviews will delay the creation of the zone for a year. A developer had planned to put 2,100 homes on 880 acres south and east of the airport, the newspaper reported. There was concern that the new development would be a new source of complaints by home owners against the airport and hurt businesses based there, should any limitations on operations be imposed. The airport still isn't home free, since some of the area's officials feel Stockton could make an end run around the county's action by having the city annex the property. Then, development could continue because, the officials told the newspaper, county authority would cease. Developers insisted the two-mile barrier conflicts with the airport's own land-use plan, but Supervisor Victor Mow told the newspaper the present land-use plan does little to protect the airport, and thus the ban area is required.
AOPA to meet with Division of Aeronautics
AOPA Regional Representative John Pfeifer is scheduled at this writing to meet with Division of Aeronautics Chief Mary Frederick on October 10 to discuss proposals for future legislation. Division officials plan to meet with AOPA and other groups to receive technical input aimed at strengthening existing and future land-use compatibility laws affecting development in the vicinity of airports. AOPA sent a letter in August to the division offering to aid in preparation of future state legislation.
Diesel magnet bill defeated
A bill that could have required airports to help fund air pollution control measures for trucks has been defeated. The California Senate on August 31 defeated the diesel magnet law, so-named because it required public facilities that attract a great number of diesel-powered trucks, including airports where deliveries are made or picked up, to be identified. Ten airports handling two million or more passengers a year, and therefore attracting a lot of diesel trucks in the process, would each have had to inventory the amount of air pollution caused by its truck activities and come up with a plan for mitigation. The airports, ship ports, rail yards, and product distribution warehouses would also have been required to warn the public of their activities and the effects on health and pollution.
Largest Parade of Planes at Expo
On Wednesday, November 8, AOPA will give new meaning to that old speeders' joke about "flying low," when it hosts the Parade of Planes in Palm Springs.
More than 100 aircraft will taxi from Palm Springs International Airport through the streets of Palm Springs to the Palm Springs Convention Center. They'll then ring the center for the largest static display to grace an AOPA event. AOPA Expo 2006 runs from November 9 through 11.
"Palm Springs is the only Expo location where we can host a parade of planes through the city streets," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "We're thrilled to return to this venue, and we encourage the public to come out and enjoy the parade."
The parade starts at 10 a.m., when the planes will exit the airport onto Alejo Road, head west to North Sunrise Way, turn left onto Sunrise to East Amado Road, turn right onto Amado, then proceed five blocks west to the convention center.
The general public is encouraged to come out, enjoy the parade, and see what general aviation is all about.
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