Encroaching development is an ongoing issue at San Carlos Airport. The following letter was submitted to the Redwood City Council in advance of their meeting July 24, 2017 about the Harbor View Project.
July 24, 2017
The Honorable John D. Seybert and the City Council
City of Redwood City
1017 Middlefield Road
Redwood City, CA 94063
Via email: [email protected]
Re: Agenda Item 8B: Request by Jay Paul Company to Initiate a General Plan
Amendment for the Harbor View Project
Dear Mayor Seybert and Council Members,
The San Carlos Airport Association (SCAA) promotes the safety and sustainability of the San Carlos Airport (“Airport†or “KSQLâ€), its flight operations, and provides advocacy and community engagement to advance this mission. SCAA is a material stakeholder regarding the above-referenced Agenda Item 8B.
The Harbor View Project (“Projectâ€) is situated abeam (about 0.1 nm) from the centerline of the Airport’s highly utilized instrument final approaches, and within ~1.5 nm of the runway. Additionally, VFR (Visual Flight Rules) arrival and departures frequently overfly the Project site.
Project Area (red arrow) & Flight Path (Maroon Line)
The Project’s plan for seven-story structure(s) may create a new obstacle proximate to the approach corridor. And, given that this proposal is to initiate a General Plan Amendment, a review by the Airport Land Use Commission/Committee will be required.
Even more concerning, with the huge housing demand the Project will generate, it will be easier for Cargill to “sell” a major local housing project on the salt ponds to a community that is desperate for housing. Harbor View, therefore, represents a beach head that we must defend to stave-off continued high-density residential development on the Bay which will adversely impact both the community and Airport. And, Redwood City is fully appraised of the noise (and associated complaints) caused by Surf Air’s intensive use of the instrument approaches and has been on notice for years of the impacts on residents of residential developments on the Bay side of Highway 101.
Consequently, SCAA emphatically urges the City Council to carefully consider the need being created for residential development underlying the pathways to and from this busy municipal airport. These matters have been the subject of many policy disputes between our Association and the City, in which we have urged extreme caution in placing residents near the Airport. Finally, the City Council should require the developer to execute an avigation easement in favor of the County of San Mateo as proprietor of the San Carlos Airport.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol Ford
President, SCAA
