CURRENT NEWS ISSUES
This page last updated on October 11, 2000.
OC - San Diego Airport
Excerpted from San Diego Union-Tribune October 8, 2000
“Both candidates for the mayor of San Diego, Ron Roberts and Dick Murphy, support a new airport to replace Lindbergh Field.”
RON ROBERTS:
“I think that we have to replace Lindbergh Field entirely… I think the major piece of missing infrastructure in San Diego today is a full-service airport. By that I mean a real international airport, an airport with runways that are of adequate length, 12,000-foot-long runways that are separated so that they can have multiple operations, parallel operations going on. Which means they have to be spaced 4,500 feet apart. We're talking about a real airport, the kind of airport you see serving major cities all over this world.
One proposal is basically saying it's going to be a regional airport serving two counties, with the political power of two counties to bring it about, not just a San Diego solution. It also can be accessed from either the south or the north. I think that you have an incredible opportunity in the one for an international airport serving a market area of what maybe 6 million people, not including Tijuana. I'm talking about Orange County and San Diego County. It would have real international flights to almost every place that airplanes could fly and could have runways that would allow you to do exactly that.
For the last probably three years, I've been having quiet, private discussions with members of the Board of Supervisors in Orange County to talk about the possibility. It isn't just San Diego that needs an airport. Southern California needs an airport… It's clear that Southern California, including Riverside, Orange and San Diego, all have similar problems in that we don't have access to the air service that we need. I think there is an opportunity to work with Orange County. I can tell you that there are at least two supervisors, and I think a third, who are very interested in the possibility of a joint airport with San Diego.
We're talking about something that could be maybe 5 ,000 or 6,000 acres, possibly being on a portion of Camp Pendleton, which is 126,000 acres. So, that's one possibility. Other discussions have included going out into Riverside County, which I personally feel is too far for San Diego. But when we started these discussions, if you recall Orange County was pursuing their El Toro solution. And that has largely because of political actions have been taken off the table for them. The supervisor that was pushing that the hardest up there is in some areas very close to me. I told him at some point if that doesn't work out, Jim Silva, we'd love to have your help and maybe look at the state regionally and see what we can do.
In San Diego County there are five major stakeholders that have to be at the table the way we're organized today. Those five are the city, the county, the port of San Diego, SANDAG and something called the U.S. Navy. I think if we're talking about this kind of solution, you have to add a sixth, and that is some heavy representation from Orange County if you're really talking about it.
Q. What about Miramar as the airport site?
It's the only other area in this whole county that I think you could talk about. Miramar is not going to be an airport for Orange County and San Diego. You lose a lot of your political strength, if you will, in being able to work with the Marines and the Navy to be able to bring that about. I think Miramar itself is about 22,000-23,000 acres. You're talking about taking over a major part of that base if you're talking about 5,000 or 6,000 acres. I think that is going to be the size, irrespective of whether it's at Miramar or at Camp Pendleton. But I think that the important thing is to get these people together and to start a process.
Q. It sounds like you personally favor the Pendleton option.
That's what I lean to, because I think that it has more chances of happening and I think it can serve us in a better way long-term.
DICK MURPHY:
Q. Does San Diego need a new airport?
Yes, San Diego needs a new airport. We need a new airport because Lindbergh Field is clearly going to reach capacity in the next 10 or 15 years… My opinion is that we need to adopt the Malin Burnham plan for a San Diego county airport authority. And that organization needs to have the power to select a site, secure a site, build an airport, operate an airport. It's the only way we're really going to get it done.
Q. What is your idea, which you discussed in the primary, for an airport at Camp Pendleton?
The Camp Pendleton idea is to operate what I would call Southern California International Airport on a piece of Camp Pendleton. Now, we're not talking about shutting down Camp Pendleton. It's 120,000 acres. It's an important economic engine. It's important buffer from Orange County and L.A. But the new airport could be a joint venture with Orange County. Orange County has the same problems with John Wayne Airport that we have. I would envision that airport being primarily an international-transcontinental airport like Dulles. So, basically, anybody out of San Diego County or Orange County or Riverside who wanted to fly overseas or to Washington D.C. could fly out of that airport. That would not shut down Lindbergh Field. Lindbergh would still be used as a short-haul airport for Southwest, flights to San Francisco, flights to Las Vegas. That is one idea. In no way am I suggesting that is the only idea.
Q. Wouldn't it be the most costly because you have to wipe out a lot of hills?
See, I'm afraid you're right. There are some cost problems with that. And the Marines like to take land, not give it away. The reason I suggested it was one of the alternatives to consider is because it may be the most politically feasible…. Camp Pendleton I like only because I think it is politically the easiest to pull off.
Q. But the likeliest alternatives are on military sites. Do you have any idea of how the region would pry a military base away from the Pentagon?
The way I think it would have to be done is for the entire Southern California congressional delegation to decide that this was their goal… Southern California represents a big block of the members of Congress. If they could be convinced that this was in the best interest of the Southern California region, that's where I see it happening.