Local community planners met with state Sen. Christine Kehoe at her office on Oct. 22 to discuss the future of the San Diego International Airport at Lindbergh Field. The half-hour meeting covered a variety of topics, focusing on governance of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. “We’re sandwiched between the industry and the quality of life,” said Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB) Airport Committee Chair Suhail Khalil. “There are choices we need to make. How do we mitigate airport impacts?” In addition to Khalil, PCPB Airport Committee aviation specialist Paul Grimes and four PCPB members represented the planning board at the meeting. Also in attendance were District 2 Councilman Kevin Faulconer and his representative, Matt Awbrey, as well as Ocean Beach Planning Board Chair Brittany Taylor and Kehoe’s policy director, Deanna Spehn. The main topic of discussion was the issue of airport governance. As it stands, the Airport Authority, which oversees the operations of the airport, also oversees the Airport Land Use Commission — something that Khalil said is a conflict of interest. “The Airport Authority is the cheerleader for the operations of the airport and they also have the jurisdiction over land-use matters,” Khalil said. “We believe the board cannot be objective when making decisions on land use. You can’t just flip a hat and say, ‘Now I’m objective because I’m deciding on land use.’” In 2007, Kehoe drafted Senate Bill 10, which restructured the Airport Authority. At last week’s meeting, Kehoe said the issue of land use is contentious throughout the county, where the Airport Authority operates 21 airports. “There’s a regionwide concern about the Airport Authority’s land use authority,” Kehoe said. “It’s not just Point Loma and Golden Hill.” Kehoe, PCPB members and Faulconer agreed that a full environmental impact report (EIR) is necessary before any of the Airport Authority’s land-use compatibility plans are updated. “That would be the only way for the Airport Authority to prove to the public they’re objective and not subjective,” Khalil said. “If we succeed on the environmental impact reports for the land-use compatibility plans, then we will feel comfortable that the Airport Authority is objective.” Kehoe said she would push for a full EIR. If that is unsuccessful, she would consider drafting a new bill regarding airport governance that would address the issue of land-use compatibility. “We have to have a good solution for San Diego,” Kehoe said. “But if we put it in a bill, it’s got to be something that is plausible to the entire rest of the state. That’s another challenge in and of itself.” The meeting also touched briefly on the issue of flight-departure fanning at Lindbergh Field, which was the focus of PCPB Airport Committee’s meeting with Congresswoman Susan Davis on Oct. 10. Khalil said he wants to know why the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) only has a model to provide nose-exposure maps for the 275-degree departure heading (flights over Ocean Beach Pier) when it also uses headings of 250, 290 and 310 degrees. He also wanted to see if there was anything in writing between Lindbergh Field and the FAA regarding the use of these headings. Although Kehoe’s main focus on the Airport Authority is for it to have greater public accountability, she said she would help by asking for what the Airport Authority has in writing on this matter and, if necessary, sign a joint letter with Faulconer to the FAA in the future asking that this information be provided. As a follow-up to their meetings with Davis and Kehoe, the PCPB Airport Committee is drafting a letter that has three formal requests for each state legislator, covering the above topics as well as Lindbergh Field traffic issues and local military airports. The specific content of the letter will be finalized at PCPB Airport Committee’s meeting Oct. 30. For more information, visit www.pcpb.net/airport.html.