Opponents are claiming a legal victory in their effort to overturn the master plan update approved for Carlsbad's McClellan-Palomar Airport, but a county official said Tuesday only "one small area" of the plan was found to be deficient.
The group Citizens For A Friendly Airport filed suit in Superior Court on Nov. 6, 2018, soon after the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the master plan update. The document outlines activities and possible development at the airport for the next 20 years.
Superior Court Judge Gregory Pollack in a ruling issued Jan. 26 states that the county Board of Supervisors' approval of the update on Oct. 10, 2018, is invalid and that the county must do more to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act.
Environmental studies inadequately examined noise impacts and more work is needed to include additional areas where people reported "significant noise levels," the judge said. Also, the plan changes the designation of the airport from B-II to D-III, which would allow larger aircraft to take off with more fuel at the airport, and that requires an update that was not obtained to the conditional use permit issued by the Carlsbad Planning Commission for the airport's operation.
A spokesman for the San Diego County Counsel's Office took a more positive view of the ruling.
"The county prevailed on most of the plaintiff's claims," said Michael Workman, director of communications for the county. "But, the court did say that in one small area, the noise analysis was deficient, and the court ruled the county needs to get an amendment to the conditional use permit (approved in 1980) from the city of Carlsbad.
"The county prevailed on all other challenges to our noise, traffic, GHG (greenhouse gases), and energy analysis," Workman said by email Tuesday.
The attorney for the county on the case, Joshua Heinlein, did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The lawsuit also challenges the supervisors' approval of the the environmental impact report completed for the master plan, saying the county inadequately examined the effects of future airport activities on noise, traffic, air quality and other issues.
Another significant issue for the citizens group is a proposal in the master plan to extend the airport's only runway by as much as 800 feet.
The group says this amounts to an expansion of the airport, which would require the approval of Carlsbad voters. The county has said the runway extension is not an expansion because the airport would remain the same size, with no change to its boundaries, so no vote is necessary.
In addition to the longer runway, the master plan outlined a series of phased projects to relocate buildings and equipment, and add safety systems and other improvements over the next two decades to make the airport more accommodating for newer, larger aircraft.
Construction of everything outlined in the plan would cost about $125 million in today's dollars. Funding is expected to be provided primarily by Federal Aviation Administration loans or grants as individual projects are approved, but there is no guarantee the money will be available or that the projects will be built.
Many North County residents oppose the proposed construction, saying it would increase noise, traffic and pollution around the airport, while local aviators, business leaders and groups such as the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce supported it.
The Carlsbad City Council also filed a lawsuit against the county, but in March 2019 the two parties settled with an agreement that the county would cooperate more closely with the city on decisions involving the airport. In return, the city said it would halt its efforts to change zoning requirements to limit airport-supporting uses outside the airport.
The airport opened in 1959 at what is now Palomar Airport Road and El Camino Real, near the geographic center of Carlsbad. It is owned and operated by the county. Flights there, mostly by private and corporate aircraft, are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Total flights at the Carlsbad airport peaked in 1999, with nearly 300,000 takeoffs and landings. Traffic dropped to less than half that by 2007 with declines in the economy, tourism and domestic travel, before leveling off and has increased slightly in recent years.
This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.
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