Camarillo, California – The Camarillo City Council adopted a resolution on Wednesday evening, February 26, 2020, in support of requiring the proposed CloudNine project at the Camarillo Airport to comply with a 1976 agreement between the City of Camarillo and the County of Ventura, to preserve quality of life for the Camarillo community.
In 1976, the City of Camarillo entered into an agreement with the County of Ventura pertaining to development at the Camarillo Airport and surrounding areas. The Camarillo Airport Authority was created to uphold the agreement which contains Camarillo Airport Restrictions, including the following restriction: “4. An aircraft weight limitation of 115,000 lbs. (twin wheel) shall be in effect.”
RKR Incorporated has proposed a project, known as “CloudNine at Camarillo” and a draft Mitigated Negative Declaration and Initial Study (MND) has been prepared describing the project as the development of approximately seven acres of open land on the northeast quadrant of the airport with four private commercial hangers and offices under a leasehold from the airport. The project description specifically states that the depth of the runway proposed as part of this project, can accommodate an aircraft such as the Boeing Business Jet 737-800 or a Gulfstream G650, two of the largest types of aircraft that are anticipated to use the airport.
The City’s concern is that the MND indicates that the project may facilitate the operation of Boeing Business Jets, which could weigh up to 171,500 lbs., which is in violation of the 1976 Agreement limitation of 115,000 lbs. The City also takes issue with the terms of the lease agreement between RKR and the County of Ventura, because the lease does require compliance with the 1976 Agreement.
“To be clear, RKR is NOT and has NO intention now or in the future to allow Boeing 737 aircraft to operate from the CloudNine location,” stated the CEO of RKR in a letter to the Ventura County Department of Airports Director on November 19, 2019. However, the letter from RKR does not create a legally binding obligation on RKR to comply with the terms of the 1976 Agreement.
On November 20, 2019, the City submitted a letter to the Department of Airports with comments on the draft MND. The letter included the City’s position that the MND fails to acknowledge the Agreement and ignores the restrictions placed on the operation of the Airport by that Agreement.
By adopting the Resolution, the Camarillo City Council is making a strong recommendation that the County amend the lease agreement with RKR to require that the Project comply with the 1976 Agreement between the City and County including, but not limited to, the Camarillo Airport Restrictions except to the extent, if at all, a term or Restriction of the 1976 Agreement is preempted by federal or state law; and, that the County amend the MND to require that the Project comply with the 1976 Agreement between the City and County including, but not limited to, the Camarillo Airport Restrictions except to the extent, if at all, a term or Restriction of the 1976 Agreement is preempted by federal or state law.
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I have watched and my ears have noticed increasingly larger aircraft using Camarillo Airport.
Quality of life for a metro area around the City of Camarillo surging towards 100,000 residents.
Why give up the agreed upon restrictions imposed in 1976 which may have nixed the airport.
There is a better suited for large aircraft in Oxnard with Ocean approaches etc.
Typical of this County and Airport to try to sneak this one by us residents.