Oceanside, Calif., Council Votes to Study Airport Property
Sep. 9–OCEANSIDE — The city will hire an independent consultant to conduct a land-use study of the Oceanside Municipal Airport’s 36-acre property in order to determine what the best use of that land is, the City Council decided in a 3-2 vote late Wednesday.
The vote came minutes after Councilwoman Esther Sanchez asked city staff members several questions about what it would take to close the airport.
“The airport has been a tremendous economic disadvantage for us here in Oceanside,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez’s motion to hire a consultant to study “the highest and best use” of the airport’s land before the city seeks any more funding for the airport was supported by Mayor Jim Wood and Councilwoman Shari Mackin.
Councilmen Rocky Chavez and Jack Feller voted against the motion, with each calling the majority’s decision “short-sighted.”
Chavez said the airport “has the ability to be a great asset to the city,” and that by redoing and undoing past council decisions and directions regarding the airport, Oceanside has created a “continuing cycle of redigging old graves.”
But members of the council majority said the airport is a drain on this city’s economy, and imposes stringent development restrictions on valuable neighboring properties along the Highway 76 corridor.
Sanchez said a Costco had wanted to locate on a defunct drive-in theater site east of the airport but couldn’t because of development restrictions related to the airport.
“We have a developer trying to build down there and (the airport is) a problem,” Wood said.
City officials said Wednesday that for Oceanside to close the airport, the city would have to follow a formal process set by the Federal Aviation Administration, return millions in federal grant money that was used to purchase property adjacent to the airport, and potentially face legal opposition from airport interest groups.
Several city officials had previously said that using federal money to purchase land in 2003 bound Oceanside to keep the airport open for 20 years. Others have said the requirement stretches beyond two decades.
Donn Walker, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, told the North County Times last month that using federal money to purchase land, as Oceanside did in 2003 when it bought 14.7 acres adjacent to the airport, “does obligate the airport to stay open well past 20 years.”
“It basically obligates the airport to stay open in perpetuity,” Walker said.
In other airport business, the council voted 4-1, with Sanchez dissenting, to use $195,000 in already-accepted federal money to pay a contractor who built 11 new hangars at the airport.
This wasn’t the first time the council has weighed in on whether to pay that $195,000 bill.
At its Aug. 24 meeting, the council deadlocked 2-2 on that item, as well as on whether to accept a $150,000 federal grant to pay for new fences and a security access system at the airport. Mackin and Sanchez voted against accepting the federal grant and paying the hangar bill, while Chavez and Feller voted for those actions. Wood was absent.
In other late business Wednesday, the council:
–Voted 5-0 to have the city’s staff study Wood’s proposal to draft an ordinance that would require paid lobbyists to register with Oceanside. Wood said he wants such lobbyists to pay a minimal registration fee, with a “criminal penalty” if they fail to comply with his proposed requirements.
–Voted 4-1, with Feller dissenting, for Wood and Sanchez to form an ad-hoc committee that would study the possibility of setting standards for mixed-use development. The city has no formal requirements for what percentage of such developments must be commercial and what percentage must be residential.
–Unanimously approved Wood’s nine proposed appointments to seven different city commissions. Mariarosa Marshall will serve as an alternate on the Arts Commission, as will Harry Homer on the Utilities Commission. The other approved panelists include Gabriel Weiner on Community Relations, Joan Brown on Integrated Waste and Tim Probart on Police and Fire. Pete Penseyres and Brenda Souza were tapped as regulars for the Transportation Commission, and Judith Stalder was picked as an alternate. Gene LaRue Jr. was selected as the Youth Commission’s adult, nonvoting adviser.
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