Representatives from the San Diego Regional Airport Authority addressed a group of concerned residents about current and future airport issues, including the draft environmental impact report on the cleanup of a former Naval Training Center landfill.
The draft EIR for the landfill remediation is currently out for public review, and all comments concerning the removal of about 177,000 cubic yards of household waste and burn ash must be turned in to the Airport Authority by Oct. 15. The EIR can be found on the Airport Authority website at www.san.org.
Peninsula Community Planning Board Airport Subcommittee Chair Suhail Kahlil hosted a community forum on Sept. 12 at Point Loma Nazarene University. He said he called the meeting to address the current EIR and other issues involving the planning board, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority and Peninsula residents and to inform the public of timely airport issues, Kahlil said.
“It’s important for the community to hear it firsthand, to be informed and start formulating their own opinions so they can provide input to the community planning board,” he said.
Kahlil said he wanted to “open channels” of communication. He publicly invited Airport Authority chair Alan Bersin to the forum during a recent Airport Authority board meeting. However, Bersin did not attend the Sept. 12 forum.
Airport Authority representatives who attended include Bruce Boland, an Airport Authority board member and retired rear admiral; Dan Frazee, deputy director of Airport Noise Mitigation; and Angela Shafer Payne, vice president of strategic planning.
District 2 Councilman Kevin Faulconer was unable to attend the meeting because of a prior engagement, according to Matt Awbrey, a representative from Faulconer’s office who attended the meeting.
Airport Authority representatives talked about noise mitigation issues, future possible developments and provided a general update for the dozen or so residents in attendance.
Frazee gave an overview of airport noise mitigation issues and strategies. He said that although the Airport Authority cannot control the number of flights in an out of Lindbergh Field, the Airport Authority can enforce stronger penalties for noise curfew violations and continue the Quieter Home Program to blunt jet noise. The Quieter Home Program aims to reduce noise inside homes within the area most affected by airport noise.
The program has its detractors within the community because of a mandatory easement to properties that have gone through the program, Kahlil said. The easement waives the rights of property owners to complain about the noise in the future. He said it has also raised concerns that such an easement could bring down property values ” a worry that has echoed during previous Peninsula Planning Board meetings and community discussions.
As noise mitigation efforts move forward, Boland offered a practical solution.
“If you don’t like what you heard flying over your house, in the morning pick up the phone and call [the airport],” he said.
Boland said Lindbergh Field will be San Diego’s main airport for the foreseeable future and that the Airport Authority is not looking for a new airport site. Boland was a lead supporter of the “No on Prop. A” campaign in November that helped stop the airport from moving to MCAS Miramar, he said.
Boland also addressed Senate Bill 10. Penned by Sen. Christine Kehoe, the bill would mandate the Airport Authority seek a regional aviation plan incorporating the master plans for all airports in the region precluding efforts to find a new airport site, he said.
The bill has gone through final amendments and awaits the governor’s signature. The bill takes effect Jan. 1 should Governor Schwarzenegger sign the legislation, Boland said.
Among a host of changes to the Airport Authority’s power over the airport, SB 10 would eliminate three board member positions that draw about $170,000 a year, he said.
Boland said improvements to the airport, including the 10 gates at Terminal 2 and an Intermodal Transit Center for customer mobility, will be detailed in the Airport Master Plan Draft Environmental Impact Report due for release in October, he said.
However, as Boland mapped out plans for the short-term future of Lindbergh Field, one resident said such efforts do the Peninsula residents no good in the long term.
“It’s like taking a Model-T with a broken crankshaft and a shot piston and putting new tires on it,” said Jarvis Ross, a longtime Peninsula resident and former Peninsula Community Planning Board member.
Ross’ statement illustrates part of the community’s disapproval over the short- and longer-term plans for the airport.
As plans from the Airport Authority to “optimize” Lindbergh Field continue, Kahlil said he would work with the Airport Authority and Peninsula planning board to provide as much information to the community as possible. He said he plans to schedule monthly Peninsula Community Planning Board Airport Subcommittee meetings and more community forums in the coming months to further involve residents.
He said he will be meeting with Airport Authority officials this week and will provide an update to the Peninsula Community Planning Board at its regular meeting today, Sept. 20.
For more information on the Peninsula Community Planning Board, visit www.pcpb.net or e-mail Peninsula Community Planning Board chair Dee Wylie at [email protected].