Opinion , Bruce R. Boland
It is a fact that there is no evidence that has ever been produced that the Navy offered the city of San Diego in 1954 the Naval Air Station Miramar for $1. It’s an urban legend that has never been substantiated.
There are other legends in San Diego that persist, too
Among those is the legend that within the sprawling 23,000 acres at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar there are at least 3,000 acres that can be used for a commercial airport.
The Proposition A ballot language for the Nov. 7 election asks the voters to approve seeking 3,000 of 23,000 acres at Miramar for a commercial airport.
The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority has disavowed the study on joint use that was produced by consultants Ricondo and Associates, because officials know that there are not 3,000 acres available at Miramar for a civilian airfield.
The only acreage that’s ever been available is the acreage occupied by the U.S. Marines for training and housing.
Sixty-five hundred personnel are living there, and with the additional 1,400 homes planned and approved, the permanent resident population will grow to 10,000.
If the voters want to force the Marines and Navy from Miramar, a positive vote will go a long way in accomplishing that.
Sprawling Base
Another legend that persists through the help of the Airport Authority is that the military brass has refused to discuss shared use of the sprawling base.
A quick review of the facts shows that on Nov. 26, 2002, a senior Navy official corresponded with the then-interim executive director (now president and chief executive officer) of the Airport Authority reaffirming “a spirit of continued cooperation on airport related matters.” The Airport Authority rebuffed that request for an ex-officio seat on the board.
That rebuff was unprecedented as the U.S. Marines and Navy have been represented on community boards and planning committees for decades. Their 20-year-plus seat on the San Diego Association of Governments board is but one example.
Notwithstanding the rebuff from the Airport Authority, the Marines and Navy have continued to assist with more than 900 hours of staff time in meetings and information sharing, and tens of thousands of dollars in direct expenditure for reproduction and research throughout the Airport Authority study.
The problem is not that the Marines and Navy refused to cooperate. It’s that the Airport Authority didn’t like the answer they got.
Inherently Unsafe
It’s inherently unsafe to mix tactical high performance jet aircraft with commercial aircraft from the same airfield.
Another persistent legend is that departures from a commercial airport at Miramar would be less intrusive on the surrounding communities than Marine Corps operations. Presently, there are 10,000 departures annually from Miramar that fly to the west through a narrow corridor in the airspace over the Sorrento Valley.
The Airport Authority’s study assumes 130,000 departures annually from Miramar by 2022.
I believe our children and grandchildren are safe from the legends of economic doom and aviation gloom, even when the Regional Airport Authority fails in its March to Miramar.
Bruce R. Boland, a retired Navy rear admiral, is a founding member of No on Proposition A.
