Jurisdictional Conflicts Create Controversy between NIMBY and Growth Advocates at airport in Carlsbad
Summary of Issues
The airport's governance has been marked by ongoing jurisdictional complexities. Though owned and operated by San Diego County since its 1959 opening, the facility was annexed by Carlsbad in 1978, creating a dynamic that has led to recurring tensions between city and county authorities. Recent legal decisions have reinforced Carlsbad's authority over land use decisions, requiring the county to obtain city permits for major modifications to the facility.
At the heart of current controversies is the county's 2018 Master Plan Update, which proposed significant runway extensions. The existing 4,897-foot runway would be initially extended by 200 feet, with provisions for a possible future extension of up to 900 feet. This proposal has met substantial resistance from both city officials and community groups, leading to legal challenges that resulted in court mandates for improved noise analysis and amendments to the Conditional Use Permit for any design changes.
Community concerns center primarily on quality of life issues for nearby residents. Noise impacts have become a particular point of contention, with residents reporting disturbances from both small aircraft and larger jets flying over homes, schools, and parks. There are ongoing complaints about pilots disregarding voluntary noise abatement procedures and quiet hours between 10 PM and 7 AM. Many community members have expressed fears about the airport potentially evolving into something akin to Orange County's John Wayne Airport, with its higher volume of commercial traffic.
Recent developments have seen the city taking stronger control measures. In April 2023, Carlsbad adopted new code amendments requiring county officials to obtain city permission for any expansion plans. These amendments also clearly defined "airport use" and "airport expansion," while prohibiting airport-related activities outside current boundaries. Notably, the airport's actual growth has fallen significantly short of previous projections made in 1997, which had anticipated 610 based aircraft and 260,000 annual takeoffs by 2015 – figures that remain well above current usage levels.
The situation fundamentally represents a balance between regional transportation needs and local community interests. While the county seeks to modernize and enhance the airport's capabilities to meet future aviation demands, city officials and residents remain focused on preserving their community's character and quality of life, leading to an ongoing dialogue about the airport's appropriate role and scale in the region.
McClellan-Palomar Airport (CRQ)
McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad is a gateway to and from San
Diego’s North County. It serves the general aviation community,
corporate aircraft and commercial services.
What makes this airport so popular is its proximity to business and recreation. Major corporations and world-class resorts are just minutes from McClellan-Palomar. Some of the finest beaches in San Diego County are close to the airport and offer surfers, swimmers and sun worshipers balmy weather and beautiful ocean waters most of the year. Oceanside Harbor, with its shops, yachts and fishing boats, is a pleasant place to spend time. Legoland is two miles west of the airport.
La Costa Resort & Spa is just a short drive from McClellan-Palomar, and the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, Golf Club & Spa is also nearby.
The airport is an important part of the community with its $461 million in industry activity, and generates $72 million in federal, state, and local taxes annually.
McClellan-Palomar Airport (CLD), located in Carlsbad, California, is a public airport serving the northern San Diego County region. Situated about 3 miles southeast of downtown Carlsbad, it offers convenient access to local attractions such as LEGOLAND and the beautiful coastline and various business centers. Primarily catering to general aviation, CLD also provides commercial air service through Advanced Air, offering flights to destinations like Los Angeles. The airport features a single terminal with a comfortable, easy-to-navigate layout. Amenities include car rental services and a pleasant waiting area. McClellan-Palomar Airport is a preferred choice for business and leisure travelers seeking a hassle-free alternative to the busier San Diego International Airport, providing a gateway to the scenic and vibrant areas of Southern California.
County Releases Proposed Plan for McClellan-Palomar Airport
The County of San Diego has released a proposed Master Plan Update designed to guide future development at McClellan-Palomar Airport.
The update and a draft environmental study were released Thursday for a 45-day public review period scheduled to end March 5.
The county has been working to create the new master plan for four years. The proposed plan focuses on modernizing McClellan-Palomar to meet current FAA airport standards and improving airport efficiency.
The proposed Master Plan and the draft program environmental impact report can both be found at PalomarAirportMP.com. Comments can be submitted to PalomarMP@sdcounty.ca.gov.
The county also announced Thursday that it has scheduled two public meetings to update the public about the proposed Master Plan and to collect input.
The first meeting will be held from 6-8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 30 at the Holiday Inn Carlsbad, located at 2725 Palomar Airport Road in Carlsbad.
The second meeting will be held two weeks later, from 6-8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 13, at the same location.
Both meetings will include the same presentation.
McClellan-Palomar Airport will also hold an open house from 4-7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 7 inside the airport terminal at 2198 Palomar Airport Road in Carlsbad. The open house will feature exhibits about the airport’s existing facilities.
The proposed Master Plan Update is scheduled to be considered by the County Board of Supervisors later this year. For more information about the McClellan-Palomar Airport Master Plan Update, subscribe to future announcements.
–Staff
Tighter regulations proposed for new uses at Carlsbad airport – San Diego Union-Tribune
A proposal for tighter city controls on any expansion or addition to the runway or other facilities at McClellan-Palomar Airport received support last week from the Carlsbad Planning Commission.
The commission voted 6-1 to recommend the Carlsbad City Council approve the changes, with Commissioner Peter Merz opposed. The council is set to consider the issue Nov. 19.
Merz said he tends to agree with San Diego County, owner of the general aviation airport, that changes within the airport’s existing boundaries are allowed under a conditional use permit issued years ago by the city. The city’s Community Development Department and the local group Citizens for a Friendly Airport say any runway changes in particular should require a new or amended permit, which the City Council would have to approve.
“That seems to be the key point of this entire thing,” Mertz said.
The proposal includes a package of amendments to the city’s general plan, zoning ordinance and local coastal plan. The changes also would prohibit the county from acquiring any additional property for airport-related uses outside the airport’s existing boundaries.
County officials have said the changes could interfere with improvements needed to make the airport more safe for its users, which are mostly private and corporate aircraft.
“The county believes the city may inadvertently restrict certain safety improvements approved by the county Board of Supervisors,” states a July 8 letter to the city from William P. Morgan, the county’s interim director of public works.
“These improvements include the extension of the existing runway, the installation of an engineered material arresting system (to stop planes that overshoot the runway), and the acquisition of future runway protection zones,” Morgan said.
Lengthening the airport’s only runway by a few hundred feet is in the county’s long-term plans. However, there is no funding for construction or the additional engineering and design work needed for that.
Carlsbad’s airport opened in 1959, when it was relocated there from Del Mar to accommodate construction of Interstate 5. At the time, the site was outside Carlsbad in the county and relatively unpopulated. Carlsbad annexed the airport and surrounding property in 1978, and approved the airport’s conditional use permit in 1980.
The city and the county have been feuding over the airport since at least the 1980s. In 1984, the City Council adopted a resolution opposing any expansion, and it has adopted other similar resolutions since then.
Residents strongly supported the city’s newest proposal. Their biggest concern has long been noise.
“My neighbors and I are extremely disappointed and frustrated with the county and how they are operating the airport,” said Frank Sung, a 21-year Carlsbad resident representing 186 homes in the Mariner’s Point homeowners association.
“We have airplanes flying over our homes, our schools and parks all hours of the day and night,” Sung said. “The single-engine planes are low and loud and dangerous … then you have the large jets who are screaming over our rooftops … right over the tennis courts and the paddleball courts at Poinsettia Park.”
Another sore point with residents is that some pilots fail to follow the airport’s voluntary noise abatement procedures, which specify a flight pattern to avoid residential areas, and the voluntary quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Citizens for a Friendly Airport President Vickey Syage urged approval.
“This has been a well thought-out, well-vetted, herculean effort,” Syage told the commission. “Tonight is the culmination of seven years of work.”
Most of the commissioners agreed.
“This is a very complicated issue and a controversy that goes back not just a few years, but for decades,” said Commissioner Joe Stine, adding that there has been litigation before and there could be again.
A conditional use permit is an opportunity to balance the potential negative and positive effects of the airport, he said, in support of the proposed changes.
The rules in the proposal are “equal, fair and balanced,” Stine said.
“I would not say in any way that the odds are tilted against the county,” he said. “We have a neutral process.”
Aside from zoning, Carlsbad has little control over the airport. Operations on the ground are handled by the county, and flight activities are the responsibility of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Originally Published:
CARLSBAD — The city will have the final word on the county’s airport expansion plans after adopting a series of code amendments on April 23, drawing a bright line under local control of McClellan-Palomar Airport.
The code amendments require the county, which is seeking to increase the airport’s capacity by extending the runway, to first request the city’s permission.
The Citizens for a Friendly Airport (C4FA) asked the city to reintroduce the amendments earlier this year. The amendments were previously part of a settlement agreement between the city and the county in 2019.
First opened in 1959, the McClellan-Palomar Airport is owned and operated by the County of San Diego as a single-runway airport meant to replace the former Del Mar Airport.
Carlsbad annexed the airport in 1978.
Today, the airport has around 300 aircraft based there and accommodates 140,000 takeoffs and landings per year. Planes utilizing the airport range in size from smaller propeller aircraft to corporate and commercial business jets holding up to 20 passengers.
The airport’s current runway is 4,897 feet, though the county has sought to extend that length for some time to allow for a larger fleet of business jets and larger aircraft to use the airport.
The airport’s original 1997 master plan projected that the airport would have 610 based aircraft and 260,000 annual takeoffs by 2015 – nearly twice the amount it still serves nine years later – and would need several improvements in order to accommodate that amount.
The county began work on the McClellan-Palomar Airport Master Plan Update in 2014, which would expand the airport’s capacity. After the Board of Supervisors adopted the master plan update in 2018, C4FA and the city sued the county – opposing the county’s proposed 800-foot runway extension.
In 2021, the Superior Court concluded that the master plan update’s final program environmental impact report’s noise analysis was inadequate and required the county to obtain an amendment to the CUP before changing the airport’s design standards.
Because of this, the city terminated its 2019 settlement agreement with the county. In January, C4FA reached out to the city with the hopes of reintroducing zoning code amendments that were withdrawn as conditions of the settlement agreement. The group also requested a General Plan amendment to clarify further the city’s policy for new or expanded airport uses.
Specifically, the amendments include defining the “airport” use and “airport expansion,” and prohibits all airport uses in zones outside of the airport’s boundaries.
“The city of Carlsbad has local control of land use at the airport. That was part of our annexation agreement,” said Vickey Syage, president of C4FA. “That got lost along the years, and it was reaffirmed by the courts from C4FA’s litigation.”
Over the years, many residents have been concerned about potential noise and other quality-of-life impacts from the airport.
“What a lot of this comes down to is a general fear that Palomar (airport) could turn into a John Wayne miniature airport,” said Gary Gonsalves, referring to the international John Wayne Airport in Orange County.
Gonsalves noted that many commuter airlines won’t fly into an airport that is under 5,000 feet.
The county completed additional noise analyses and approved the final master plan update in 2021, which proposes to extend the runway by 200 feet with a maximum 900-foot extension option at some point in the future, contingent upon a CUP.
According to staff, the planning division will work with the city attorney’s office to prepare the necessary documents to update the zoning code and eventually bring them back for the council’s final approval.
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