District 2 Councilman Kevin Faulconer rallied in protest alongside Peninsula residents Tuesday, April 29 at Spanish Landing Park across from the San Diego International Airport to lobby against parts of Lindbergh Field’s planned build-out.
Faulconer joined about 30 residents and members of local community planning boards who want a proposed five-story parking structure removed from the airport’s growth plans because it could create nightmarish traffic along North Harbor Drive.
“As a result of this structure, our streets would be downgraded to an ‘F-level’ of service, and that is simply not acceptable to us,” Faulconer said at the rally.
Faulconer said he would also attend a May 1 San Diego Regional Airport Authority meeting at the commuter terminal to request that the Airport Authority delay certifying its final environmental impact report until the community has more time to review comments.
The Airport Authority released the final EIR for the Airport Master Plan in mid-April and planned to adopt the plan May 1.
The plan calls for the addition of 10 new gates at Terminal 2, a transportation hub and roadway improvements.
But part of the plan calls for the monolithic parking structure, which some Peninsula residents oppose because of the potential for gridlock along North Harbor Drive ” an area already heavily impacted by an estimated 85,000 vehicle trips daily to and from the airport’s three existing terminals.
According to the EIR document, the figure could jump to 109,000 by 2015.
If the Airport Authority adopts the plan as expected, it can begin moving forward with construction, which could start as early as July 2009, said Airport Authority officials.
But Lance Murphy, a community organizer, said the Airport Authority hasn’t satisfactorily addressed noise, traffic and safety concerns within the EIR. Should the Airport Authority adopt the plan, the community wouldn’t have many options left.
“The only option would be to sue [the Airport Authority],” Murphy said during the rally.
He said, however, that’s easier said than done.
The Airport Authority has already taken steps to preclude public agencies from taking them to court over the final EIR in hopes coming up with a comprehensive transportation plan that everyone ” including the San Diego Association of Governments, the Port of San Diego and several transit districts ” can “buy off on” by February 2009, said Alan Bersin, Airport Authority board chair.
On April 22, the City Council voted 6-2 to authorize Mayor Jerry Sanders to sign a memorandum of agreement with the Airport Authority to prevent court action from taking place.
The agreement effectively neutralizes the ability of the city and other agencies to sue the Airport Authority over any possible violations of the California Environmental Quality Act.
“I would hope that we avoid [litigation] in favor of working together and producing a good plan for the community,” Bersin said.
“The ideal situation would be that we could come up with a terrific plan that “¦ deals with the issues that are on the minds of people, including the people from Point Loma,” he said.
District 6 Councilwoman Donna Frye and Faulconer were the lone members of the City Council to vote against the memorandum of agreement.
Faulconer said he voted against it because it gives tacit approval to airport developments, such as the parking structure he opposes.
Though community members at the rally appeared unified in their opposition, opinions about the future and function of Lindbergh Field ranged.
Jim and Melanie Nickel, longtime Point Loma residents, said they acknowledge the airport isn’t going anywhere but that a 5,000-car parking structure would further clog North Harbor Drive.
The street, a main thoroughfare to downtown, serves purposes other than delivering commuters to the airport, Melanie Nickel said.
Jarvis Ross, a 23-year Peninsula resident and former community planning board member, said a large parking structure would be a big mistake and that the city needs a new international airport.
“I think many of us are happy with having the airport here,” he said. “We just think it’s ridiculous to make it bigger.”
Airport Authority officials haven’t ruled out building the parking structure as part of a multi-modal transit center on the north side of Lindbergh Field near Pacific Coast Highway in an attempt to link the trolley line and improve access from Interstate 5.