Dear Friends and Neighbors –
Last Wednesday, Dec 8, 2021, was a historic day for the residents of San Diego County. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors (BOS) approved a Palomar Airport plan to keep Palomar as a SMALLER airport and denied the requested expansion.
In 2018, the old termed-out BOS voted to expand Palomar Airport to be a D-III rated airport (huge jets) and build a new runway 800 feet longer than the current one, 4 feet shorter than John Wayne. C4FA sued and won. The current BOS rescinded the old plan, and last Wednesday passed a new one that:
- Retains Palomar Airport’s rating at its current B-II level (much smaller planes)
- Adds EMAS (think “runaway truck stop” for airplanes) on the west end of the existing runway
- Permits a 200-foot runway extension on the east end of the EXISTING runway for safety.
- Gives the County staff permission to ask the BOS to consider D-III airport modifications in the future.
C4FA is happy the airport is going to remain a B-II airport. We’re concerned about the 200 ft runway extension because longer runways mean larger planes and the County will be back to claiming safety issues to justify yet an even longer runway. It’s a Catch-22 situation.
There’s still work to do to ensure that County staff follow the directions of the Board, and that the City of Carlsbad steps up to take the leadership role awarded to them by the Courts as part of C4FA’s legal victory.
In addition, thanks to Supervisor Terra Lawson Remer, staff have been instructed to petition the FAA to change the VOLUNTARY quiet hours to MANDATORY quiet hours. We’ll be honest – it’s a long shot, but at least, FINALLY, someone is listening.
If you are interested – Here’s the link to the meeting. The Airport discussion (Agenda Item 6) starts at hour 0:29 (29 min mark). The voting clarification runs from about 3:25 – 3:35 hour mark. The entire discussion is about 3 hours long.
https://sdcounty.granicus.com/
None of this would have happened without your support and C4FA’s legal victory. Thank you to the over 2200 residents that signed our petition, which was presented to the BOS on Wednesday. Thank you to the over 130 of you that made E-Comments opposing the expansion (which was also noted at the meeting). And finally, thank you to the all people who showed up in person to speak or called into the meeting to oppose an airport expansion at Palomar. You all helped make this happen!
But for now, we rest, celebrate the victory and celebrate you, our supporters.
Thank you.
Your Neighbors @ C4FA
Please share this with friends and neighbors!
P.S. One last ask – if you can. C4FA must ensure that what was directed by the BOS is what is implemented by the County. Can you please help us to do that? We are an all volunteer organization. Every dollar counts. Thank you.