AOPA is asking the San Diego Planning Commission to withhold approval for a plan to privatize Brown Field Municipal Airport and turn it into a major air cargo facility.
"The development plan continues to ignore the needs of general aviation," said Bill Dunn, AOPA vice president for regional affairs. "We've made repeated requests to the developers for corrective action, but we haven't received an adequate response."
In a May 15 letter to the planning commission, AOPA said that the developer (Brown Field Aviation Partners, Inc.) was avoiding its responsibility to maintain, improve, and modernize GA facilities. The developer also refused to set aside land for future GA needs at the airport.
AOPA also reiterated its request for a detailed airspace study, noting that the substantial increase in cargo operations would affect all airports in the area.
"It's premature for this development project to move forward without first having an adequate plan to ensure the safety of all aircraft operating in the vicinity of Brown Field," said Dunn. "AOPA can not support the proposed development project. We urges the planning commission to withhold its approval of this project."
The commission is scheduled to consider the privatization plan at a May 25 meeting.
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May 17, 2000