Military Runway Closer to Commercial Use

A draft agreement to open the runway at Point Mugu to commercial jets was approved by city and county officials Thursday, bringing the possibility of passenger airline service at the military base one step closer.

Despite the unanimous approval of the Point Mugu Regional Airport Authority, though, Navy officials have yet to see or endorse the proposal.

The 10-page document calls for the Navy to lease property to the authority, even though Pentagon officials have consistently said they do not want civilians on Navy land.

“Right now, the commanding officer of the Naval Air Weapons Station has told them no use of Navy property,” said Vivian Goo, a Navy deputy public works officer.

“We haven’t seen the draft agreement, but that is the Navy’s position,” she said.

Members of the authority--who represent Ventura County and the cities of Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Port Hueneme and Ventura--are nonetheless confident that Navy officials will sign the agreement in one form or another.

“There’s no assurance that they will allow [the lease],” said Supervisor Frank Schillo, chairman of the authority board. “But they’re concerned about downsizing, and they’re concerned about money for their main mission.”

Earlier this week, the Navy announced it would lay off 135 civilian workers at Point Mugu naval base and another 49 at Port Hueneme as part of its ongoing efforts to cut costs in the post-Cold War era.

The draft agreement would allow the airport authority to use ramps and other Navy facilities for civil cargo and overnight mail for the next 30 years.

But the plan limits use of the airfield to no more than three large commercial planes at a time and prohibits planes heavier than DC-10s. The proposal also mandates that civilian aircraft stay out of military airspace and bans general-aviation planes and private helicopters.

The airport authority structured the draft plan so that potential impacts on the city of Camarillo would be minimized, including limiting civil operations to an average of 35 arrivals a day.

Camarillo Councilwoman Charlotte Craven said Thursday she had no assurance that the authority would honor its promises to spare the city since the draft proposal reneges on an earlier pledge not to use Navy property.

“More and more people are questioning whether you are going to keep the rest of your agreements,” said Craven, who attends the meetings even though her city refused to join the agency. “You need to keep your credibility up.”

Schillo defended the proposed agreement, however, saying that it does not make sense to purchase land next to Navy property when so much of the base goes unused.

He also said that one of the chief concerns stated in the proposal calls for minimizing the impact on Camarillo residents.

“We included that in the very beginning, so those things are itemized as part of the very foundation,” Schillo told Craven.

Authority members already have begun marketing the runway to overnight package-delivery companies, who now must truck many of the parcels that originate in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties to Burbank.

Ventura Mayor Jack Tingstrom said that if the authority receives speedy Navy approval and completes the necessary environmental reviews, FedEx and United Parcel Service overnight deliveries could begin soon.

“Best-case scenario, I would think we’d be looking at one year,” said Tingstrom, Ventura’s representative on the five-member panel. “We might surprise ourselves.”

Director Rodney L. Murphy recommended Thursday that each authority member deliver a copy of the proposal to his city or county attorney.

A final draft of the agreement will be considered by the authority next month. Comments from interested members of the public will be incorporated, and the final document will be forwarded to the Pentagon, Murphy said.

Military leaders in 1993 offered the 11,000-foot runway to county officials for commercial use, with certain provisions.

Since then, local elected officials have been working together to meet all the Navy’s demands and to map out a detailed plan about how to launch passenger jet and air freight service from Point Mugu.

Community and business leaders have rallied behind the idea as a way to create jobs and stimulate investment in Ventura County.

A report released last fall estimated that the extra business generated by the airfield could translate to tens of millions of dollars a year in economic activity and 20,000 or more jobs.