Palomar Airport: The 2015-2035 Master Plan, Part 1, Blog 67

The County is preparing its 2015-2035 Palomar Airport Master Plan [PMP].

Tell the County what you think.  You can fill out an online survey at PalomarMP@kimley-horn.com.    To learn more, attend the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th PMP County workshop.  The 1st workshop was held February 5th.   Others are likely in April or May, August, and October or November.

Should you comment?  You may want to reserve judgment until you have read the the next few weeks of blogs.

What Does the County Plan?

For sure, we won’t know till December.  But the County completed a Palomar runway extension study in 2013.  The County wants to extend the runway by 900 feet from 4897 to 5800 toward El Camino Road.  The Orange County John Wayne runway is 5701 feet.  The extension costs $50 to $70 million.

The County also wants to build a westside runway $25 million safety system including huge retaining walls.  The study does not clearly say why these retaining walls need to be so large.   Building large walls would allow the County to increase its Palomar Airport land footprint, north to south. 

Expanding the footprint allows Palomar to incrementally build improvements to convert the airport from an FAA-rated B airport to a C airport to handle larger and faster planes.

How Would a Palomar Runway Extension Affect Carlsbad, Encinitas, Oceanside, San Marcos, and Vista Noise?

Today, Palomar yearly handles about 150,000 flights (landings and takeoffs).  Ten years ago, Palomar handled about 285,000. Then the economy crashed.  Palomar could double its flights tomorrow without a runway extension as the economy improves.

Today, Palomar handles about 140,000 small aircraft including helicopters and about 11,700 corporate jets.  The 2013 County runway study predicts corporate jet flights are expected to grow at an average annual growth rate of 4.0 percent. The total number of jets in the general aviation fleet is projected to grow from 11,760 in 2011, to 26,935 by 2032. [Kimley-Horn Study page 3.5.]

In short, the runway extension benefits mainly a few hundred corporate executives who do not want to land at Lindbergh field and limbo 30 miles to Carlsbad.

The County says extending the runway cuts aircraft noise.  You decide.  Which aircraft can you hear further from your house?  A single engine 12,500 pound private plane?  Or a 90,000-pound corporate jet or turbojet?  But, you say, the County can show me noise contours.

Understand that the formula the County uses to gauge noise looks at noise near the airport, not near your house.  Also, the County ignores how often planes fly over your house. 

In the County’s ears, it makes no difference if aircraft fly near you house twice an hour, perhaps today’s average.  Or five times an hour in the future.  Why?  County calculates noise by a 24-hour average.  Averaging 60 daily flights and 5 nightly flights means acceptable noise to the County.

The County does not advertise:

• It cannot impose mandatory noise restrictions on aircraft.

• Although the County will listen to your noise complaints, it cannot force offending aircraft to do anything.   Corporate jets flying to Palomar from overseas or across the border during the night favor their corporate executive schedules, not your noise concerns. 

What Disclosures Does Real Estate Law Require When You Sell Your Home?

When you sell your home, you will have to disclose how close your home is to Palomar Airport.   A curious buyer may want to look at the 2015-2035 Palomar Airport Master Plan to see the airport expansion plans. 

In the early 2000s, we left Carlsbad, in part due to aircraft noise.  We looked at the wonderful Spanish style homes in the Estancia development South of Palomar Airport road east of El Camino Road.  But we also stood on the builder lot as planes flew overhead.  We moved instead to San Marcos.  

Next Week: What About Palomar Passengers under the PMP?