[CPEO-MEF] Encroachment at California's civilian airports

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[This article shows how municipal airports are facing encroachment 
problems similar to those faced by military airfields. - LS]

Squeezing Out Small Airports
As cities grow around some existing airfields, officials seek to rezone 
land for new housing with an eye toward raising tax revenue.

By Jennifer Oldham
Los Angeles Times
April 24, 2006

At 2,000 feet, the view from Ben Meyers' Cessna says it all: To the 
right of the runway, Spanish-style homes crowd together; up ahead, 
concrete pads await mansions atop a denuded hillside; and to the left, 
asphalt-roofed duplexes glisten in the sun.

Meyers was flying over Oceanside Municipal Airport in San Diego County, 
but he could have been circling airports in Elk Grove near Sacramento, 
Watsonville in Santa Cruz County or Bakersfield in Central California — 
all of which are being squeezed by ever-expanding suburbs.

Around the state, sprawl is swallowing the once-vacant lands around 
municipal airports just as the number of small aircraft is rising, 
putting the need for such airports and the pressures to close them on a 
collision course.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-airport24apr24,1,5715810.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california
--


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org


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