Military rejects notion of shared air fields

By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | Monday, November 14, 2005 9:11 PM PST ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- The military fired a shot across the bow of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority on Monday, telling the agency that neither North Island Naval Air Station nor Miramar Marine Corps Air Station should be shared with civilian aircraft.

Authority board members, however, deflected those comments, saying the military has to be part of the region's long-term airport needs.

In presentations to an authority planning committee, Navy Cmdr. Mike Phillips said sharing Coronado's North Island air field with civilian passenger and cargo aircraft isn't feasible because of the number of military flights, and that such joint use is generally against Department of Defense policy.

"We're here to help you avoid getting on a track that will lead to ultimate failure," Phillips told the authority's Strategic Planning Committee.

Immediately after Phillips was done, Marine Col. Gregory Goodman said that Miramar's existing air field and a concept for a new commercial airport on the eastern portion of the sprawling 23,000-acre base would be impractical because of interference with Navy and Marine Corps flight operations.

"Joint use is not good at Miramar," Goodman said. "It only works in places where there are factors that aren't present at Miramar."

Most of the nation's 23 shared-use airports are heavily dominated by either the military or civilian aircraft, he said.

Goodman also said that the 105,000-acre Camp Pendleton does not have sufficient land for a new airport and that sharing that base's air field wouldn't work.

After hearing those presentations, authority board member William Lynch said county residents generally view Miramar as the most logical site for a new airport because of its central location in northeastern San Diego and its easy freeway access.

Lynch and other panel members also told Phillips and Goodman the military cannot simply say "no" and walk away from the discussion.

"We're hoping to get someone at the military bases to take a hard look and see if we can find some way ... to solve this problem," Lynch said.

The airport authority has a self-imposed April deadline to come up with a recommendation to county voters and what it believes is the best option to meet expected growth in air passenger and cargo demand.

Downtown San Diego's Lindbergh Field, the busiest single-runway airport in the nation and restricted from having overnight arrivals and departures, is forecast to be out of room to handle projected growth within about 10 years.

The authority has been working since 2003 to come up with a solution, winnowing a list of more than 30 potential sites down to three civilian possibilities and the base sites.

The civilian sites include expansion of the 612-acre Lindbergh, Campo in the southeastern portion of the county and a site just over the Imperial County line. The base sites include Camp Pendleton, Miramar, North Island and March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County.

March is not being further studied, however, primarily because of its distance from a majority of San Diego residents. The same is true with a civilian site near Borrego Springs.

Under a plan that will be considered by the full airport authority board on Dec. 5, each of the military sites except March will get a full study including considering what could happen five, 10 or 15 years from now.

And that's just what should happen, several speakers told the panel.

"Miramar is the future for San Diego and the people would appreciate a new airport being located there," Poway resident Don Connors said.

Sandor Shapery, a member of a San Diego Association of Governments advisory committee, said the state legislation that mandates the authority consider military sites requires that it "leave no stone unturned."

"Don't be dissuaded by the fact it may have to be in someone else's backyard," Shapery said.

The authority had refrained from considering any of the county's military bases until the latest round of nationwide base closures and realignments was completed, a process that recently ended.

John Chalker, head of San Diego-based Alliance in Support of Airport Progress in the 21st Century, said his business-oriented group is firm in its conviction that the bases have to be fully examined for shared use and exclusive civilian use.

A couple of speakers and authority board members said that examination needs to include whether the fixed-wing aircraft at Miramar can be moved to North Island or the Marine Corps base in Yuma, Ariz., and its helicopter units transferred to Camp Pendleton.

One of the recommendations from the authority's staff that will be considered by the full board in December is whether to call for a multi-day session with Navy and Marine Corps officials to fully explore the base sites as new airport possibilities.

Board member Robert Maxwell of Oceanside said he is growing increasingly concerned over the length and complexity of the remaining tasks for the authority before its planned April decision.

But Lynch pointed out that the measure voters will consider next November is advisory in nature and that actual planning and construction of a new airport probably would not be finished for at least 10 years or more.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.