HomeMy WebLinkAbout(1995, 02/27) - B-1 - AmendedFM
NEWPORT BEACH AIRPORT POLICY
I. POLICY.
The City's airport policy consists of three components;
A. The preservation of the John Wayne Airport Settlement Agreement;
B. The possible modification of the Settlement Agreement under
terms acceptable to the City and County;
C. The development of an additional commercial airport to
complement service provided at JWA;
The measures to implement this policy are discussed in Section IV and
implementation of all components of this policy are necessary to preserve the
quality of life for Newport Beach residents.
II. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this policy is to establish a comprehensive program to
minimize the impact of John Wayne Airport (JWA) on the quality of life for
Newport Beach residents by preserving the current operational restrictions at
JWA, investigating ways to extend and /or strengthen those restrictions, and
encouraging objective evaluation of the potential for converting El Toro MCAS
to a commercial airport that would complement air transportation service
provided at JWA.
M. INTRODUCTION.
The Southern California Association of Governments (SLAG) has
predicted that the demand for air transportation in Orange County will exceed
16 million annual passengers (MAP) in the year 2000 and 23 MAP in 2010. JWA
is the only commercial airport in Orange County and commercial aircraft
departing JWA generate noise that affects more than 40,000 Newport Beach
residents. However, inadequate land area and other constraints currently
prevent JWA from serving more than 50% of the existing demand, and less than
half of the anticipated demand, for air transportation in Orange County.
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Nonetheless, in the absence of an additional and complementary
commercial airport convenient to Orange County residents, there will be
constant and continued pressure to increase the number of commercial jet
departures at JWA and any resulting increase in noise could further degrade the
quality of life for our residents. Newport Beach accepts the fact that, in all
probability, JWA will remain a commercial airport for the foreseeable future and
plays an important role in Orange County's economic structure. However,
Newport Beach will not accept any substantial increase in commercial jet aircraft
noise and will oppose any physical improvement at JWA that could cause that to
occur.
A major source of future additional air transportation demand is the
urbanization of Southern Orange County. The Board of Supervisors and the
cities in Southern Orange County must be willing to accept the responsibility to
provide for some of the air transportation demand generated by those businesses
and residents. There is evidence to suggest that El Toro Marine Corps Air
Station (El Toro MCAS) can, when closed, be converted to a commercial aviation
facility:
A. With substantially less noise than generated by current military •
operations;
B. Without significantly affecting the quality of life for South County
residents;
C. And provide a stimulus to the Orange County economy.
Newport Beach residents have experienced the same fears and concerns
now expressed by South County residents, but operational restrictions imposed
on JWA by the Settlement Agreement with Orange County have reduced the
impacts on our residents while serving the needs of all of Orange County.
IV. POLICY IMPLEMENTATION
A. PRESERVATION OF THE JWA SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
The City Council and staff shall take all steps necessary to protect the
validity of the JWA Settlement Agreement. These steps include, without
limitation, the following:
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1. The City shall oppose, or seek protection from, any Federal
legislative or regulatory action that would or could affect or impair the County's
ability to operate JWA consistent with the provisions of the JWA Settlement
Agreement or the City's ability to enforce the Settlement Agreement. City staff
shall continue to monitor possible amendments to the Airport Noise and
Capacity Act of 1990 as well as various FAA Regulations and Advisory Circulars
that relate to aircraft departure procedures.
2. The City shall maintain membership in NOISE and /or other
groups whose primary purpose is to preserve the right of airport proprietors or
noise impacted residents to establish or enforce reasonable restrictions to reduce
the noise impact of commercial aircraft operations.
3. The City shall request, and assist the County in implementing,
improvements to the comprehensive noise control program at JWA, which are
consistent with the terms and provisions of the Settlement Agreement, and do
not adversely impact airport capacity or safety. Such improvements could
include, without limitation, the following:
a) Implementation of aircraft flight or departure procedures
which assure the community of the best feasible noise abatement;
b) The preservation of the existing permanent remote
monitoring stations and the upgrade of the current noise monitoring system
whenever feasible;
c) Continued enforcement of the General Aviation Noise
Ordinance.
B. POSSIBLE EXTENSION OF THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.
City Staff is directed to continue to discuss and, subject to City Council
approval, negotiate amendments to the JWA Settlement Agreement. The City
Council will not approve any amendments to the Settlement Agreement absent
FAA approval, preservation of the curfew, and a permanent reduction in the
number of permitted departures by the noisiest commercial aircraft currently
using the airport. These are the minimum criteria that must be satisfied before
the Council will even consider any limited increase in the number of permitted
commercial jet departures or passenger service levels.
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C. ADDITIONAL COMMERCIAL AIRPORT.
The City of Newport Beach has long advocated the development of an
additional commercial airport to complement service at JWA. While the only
mandatory criteria for the additional airport is that it be located convenient to
Orange County residents, the City of Newport Beach, SLAG, the Southern
California Regional Airport Authority, the FAA and the Orange County Cities
Airport Authority have all recognized the potential of EI Toro MCAS to
accommodate commercial aviation without adversely affecting the quality of life
of South Orange County residents. The second airport site studies conducted to
date have not identified a feasible location for an additional airport other than EI
Toro MCAS. EI Toro MCAS consists of 4700 acres of land and the base is
surrounded by more than 16,000 acres of land that is vacant or devoted to uses
which are compatible with the extremely noisy military jets that now comprise
the majority of EI Toro MCAS operations. EI Toro has two 10,000 foot runways
and two (2) 8,000 foot runways. Ground access to the base is provided by five
existing or planned freeways, tollways, or transportation corridors as well as the
nearby Amtrak railroad line. Technical studies have confirmed that commercial
departures can be accommodated by the existing runways such that residents
are exposed to substantially less noise than generated by existing military •
operations. These factors, combined with the decision of the Department of
Defense to close EI Toro MCAS in 1999, require a thorough and objective
evaluation of the commercial aviation potential of EI Toro during any reuse
planning process.
While a final position on commercial aviation at EI Toro MCAS should
not be taken by any public or private entity until completion of a thorough and
objective study, the following statements can be made with certainty:
1. EI Toro MCAS is a County -wide resource which, if properly
redeveloped, could generate substantial direct revenue through commercial
aircraft operations and other on -site development as well as stimulate Orange
County's economy and dramatically increase private and public sector revenue;
2. Evaluation of commercial aviation at El Toro should assume the
continued existence of JWA while recognizing the limited size and physical
capacity of that facility;
3. EI Toro MCAS could be converted to a commercial airport without
any South County resident experiencing noise as great as that generated by
current military operations and much less noise than is currently experienced by •
any Newport Beach resident
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4. Public entities and residents likely to be impacted by airport noise
or airport operations must receive written and binding assurances that any
operational control or restriction necessary to minimize the adverse impact on
quality of life will remain in effect in perpetuity.
Adopted February 14, 1972
Amended - October 14,1975
Amended - November 27,1978
Amended - October 14,1980
Amended - July 27, 1981
Amended - September 27, 1982
Amended - March 14,1983
Amended - May 23,1985
amended - December 9, 1985
Amended - October 22, 1990
Formerly B -1 and B -2
Adopted December 13, 1993
Amended - February 27, 1995
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