As a Windsor resident for 25 years and chairman of the Sonoma County Airline Attraction Advisory Committee, I am concerned by some of the misinformation that is being circulated in some Windsor neighborhoods regarding the master plan update project for the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport.
It certainly could not have been prepared by anyone who understands the project or has actually read the environmental impact report that was prepared for the project and will be reviewed today by the Board of Supervisors.
I encourage anyone with questions or an interest in this important project to visit the airport's website (www.sonomacountyairport.org) and take advantage of the detailed information that has been provided and kept current since the project was initiated in 2007.
As the EIR and related documents clearly point out, the master plan update project is first and foremost a safety project enabling the airport to comply with a congressional mandate to establish up-to-date runway safety areas while providing a transportation facility that is better able to meet the needs of our community.
Since 1988, the county has been committed to responsible airport operations that provide necessary and valuable air transportation services to the community. Sonoma County has gone the extra step of adopting a general plan air transportation element limiting the nature and number of commercial flights precisely so that our airport will not become the kind of large regional airport that some people have erroneously suggested will occur with the proposed project.
The current master plan update project continues and strengthens the county's commitment. For example, existing policies set a daily limit of 21 scheduled commercial aircraft departures, which represents less than 10 percent of the airport's activities. The current general plan would allow large commercial aircraft to use 14 of the 21 daily departures. The master plan update project proposes to reduce the number of large aircraft departures to seven per day - half of the number that is currently authorized in the air transportation element.
One item of misinformation alleges we can expect large numbers of 737s flying over our community if the master plan project is approved. Actually, Boeing 737s and similar aircraft operate at the airport currently, using the existing runway length. Commercial airline 737s could operate at the airport, without a longer runway, right now. The proposed longer runway instead opens the opportunity for smaller regional commercial jet aircraft to serve at the airport.
Also, the consistent information received and discussed at the advisory committee indicates that it would be very unlikely for airlines to provide service with 737s at our airport, simply because the market is not large enough to justify the use of that type of aircraft here.
Opponents have described the proposed master plan update project as an "airport expansion" falsely creating the impression that operations at the airport will be substantially increased as a result of the project. To the contrary, the EIR and the air transportation element data indicate that while the airport's physical facilities are being expanded and improved, the county is not seeking to increase the total number of commercial airline flights that was approved in 1988.
Michael P. Merrill, a Windsor resident, is chairman of the Airline Attraction Advisory Committee for Sonoma County.
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