Palomar Airport: "Stumped", Blog 80

After attending the recent 2015-2035 McClellan-Palomar (Palomar) workshop, I am stumped.  I don’t know why the County won’t beautify 3,000 linear feet+ of ugly Palomar Airport slopes.

Recent Blogs

As noted in recent blogs, the Airports Manager Peter Drinkwater has long ignored Carlsbad pleas to plant the slopes.  As has Supervisor Bill Horn for many years.  

I thought we had the answer.   An airport tenant told me that the county told him  that planting and watering slopes could leak water into Palomar landfills and cause trash to leach into the ground and ground waters.

Workshop Information

At the Palomar Master Plan (PMP) workshop, I discussed the slope issues with the county-consultant, Kimley.  Recall that Kimley prepared the August 2013 Palomar Runway Extension Study and is merging key Study parts into the PMP. 

My workshop questions assume the upcoming PMP and sister EIR will explain why the county refuses to landscape the Palomar slopes – or be defective documents. 

To my surprise, Kimley advised that planting and watering the slopes should not raise concerns about water migrating through the fill and carrying leachate into the ground and groundwater for three reasons.

First, Kimley says steep slope water runs on the surface to the slope bottom.  Second, plant watering will pierce the surface less than a foot.  Third, a culvert at the slope bottom could safely drain water reaching the bottom.  So someone is fibbing.

Stumped & Speculating

So I am stumped.  The reason for the Carlsbad-county slope planting kerfuffle mystifies.  And, neither Peter Drinkwater nor Supervisor Horn will explain.

I do have a theory.  The county has signaled many times that it wants to enlarge Palomar to an FAA class C or D airport to handle planes much larger than its current class B design.  In fact, Kimley at the May 7 workshop said that the 1997 Palomar Master plan identified the county’s class D airport longings.

What’s really going on?  To create increased separation between wider-wingspan planes on the Palomar runway and taxiways, county needs to widen the Palomar footprint north to south. How?  Build massive retaining walls along Palomar Airport road and backfill them to create more flat land.   

Why plant Palomar slopes if you are going to bury them with dirt behind massive retaining walls?  Why give the community beautiful slopes for 20 years and then try to take them away?

PAAC

At the next Palomar Airport Advisory Committee meeting, I will ask the Committee to request that Mr. Drinkwater explain the kerfuffle and the county’s plans.   Do I expect an answer?  No. The PAAC has routinely ignored my requests for information for 18 months.  

But such a presentation would be a great opportunity for Director Drinkwater and Supervisor Horn to explain the seemingly inexplicable.  Perhaps less campaigning and more community cooperation is in order.