Thursday, April 7, 2005
Council flinches at airport authority
The San Diego (CA) Union-Tribune
OCEANSIDE – The city should not have to make the choice between its airport and a proposed 90-acre development that would bring jobs and tax revenue, City Council members said yesterday. But they made it clear that the development is their top priority.
The council voted unanimously yesterday to write a letter to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority expressing its concern over a draft report for land use around local airports.
Planning Director Gerald Gilbert said he had thought Oceanside’s land-use plans would be respected, but the present draft doesn’t do that.
Gilbert said the council could override the authority document but only by taking on all the liability for doing so.
Alan Cruise, president of the Oceanside Airport Association, said the 90-acre parcel known as the Valley Drive-Ins could be developed commercially, but Councilwoman Esther Sanchez said 90 acres is too big for commercial alone, and she supports a mixed use, with residences on the property.
Residences, especially high-density development, would not fit the draft plan for the property between the end of the airport runway and Foussat Road.
The authority is accepting comments on its plan until April 15.
