Everyone needs a mantra. Words to live by. Maybe: “If you’re going to do something, do it right.” Or: “Why is there always not enough time to do something right but enough time to do it over?”
The County Mantra: “We Have No Plans”
The county has a mantra: “We have no plans to ______.” You fill in the blank. Perhaps: Extend Palomar runway. OR Encourage a new air carrier to create new service at Palomar. OR Increase the number of corporate jets using Palomar.
Find out what's happening in Carlsbadfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Why does the county say it has no Palomar plans?
Once the county admits a project, the California Environmental Act requires the county to assess the project, the whole project. Assessing a whole project may require an EIR to be prepared.
Find out what's happening in Carlsbadfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
But if the county has no project plans but serendipitously makes four Palomar Airport improvements over 4 years that mysteriously end in the project, then the county can avoid an EIR. Instead the county relies on CEQA exemptions or negative declarations to find each improvement alone has no significant environmental impact. Need examples?
Since the mid 2000s the county has relocated terminal parking off the airport premises, rebuilt and expanded the passenger terminal, created a customs facility to encourage cross border flights, reconstructed the runway for heavier aircraft, improved taxiways, and re-graded terminal portions for undisclosed reasons. And appears to be avoiding planting the airport slopes so the county can at some point install retaining walls along Palomar Airport road to widen the airport land footprint. All without an EIR or any serious environmental analysis.
The Palomar March to a High End Corporate Jet Airport and/or Enhanced Commercial Service Airport is Underway
In reality, the county march is on and has been since 2000. Despite its denials, county does plan to extend the Palomar runway if the county can get FAA grants. How do we know this?
- The 2011 San Diego Regional Aviation Strategic Plan (RASP) endorses the county enhancing Palomar Airport for high-end/ corporate aviation and/or commercial passenger service and extending the Palomar runway by 1000-feet. See RASP pages 5-17, 6-4, and 2-6.
- In 2013, after collecting nearly $700,000, Kimley-Horn concluded the Palomar runway could be extended 900-feet to improve corporate jet capacity.
- In 2013, county airports chose to lose a $675,000 FAA planning grant so that Kimley-Horn could continue working on the Palomar Master Plan, a step needed so that county may apply to the FAA for a runway extension grant. County could have qualified for the grant had it conducted a new consultant selection process and delayed its Master Plan for six month.
Isn’t it odd that the county has no Palomar plans when:
- The FAA requires the county to have an Airport Layout Plan showing current and future facilities including runway changes,
- The RASP has proclaimed Palomar’s path,
- Palomar is updating its Palomar Airport Master Plan to incorporate the Runway Study, and
- Palomar adds improvements each year needed to serve larger aircraft?
How many plans does it take not to have a plan?
