South County Airport will finally have the hangars that have
been on the drawing board since the 1980s, thanks to a settlement
worked out between the county and San Martin activists. One hundred
long-planned hangars were the subject of a lawsuit brought by San
Martin Neighborhood Alliance, which sought to force the county to
do additional extensive and expensive environmental review before
proceeding with the project.
South County Airport will finally have the hangars that have been on the drawing board since the 1980s, thanks to a settlement worked out between the county and San Martin activists.
One hundred long-planned hangars were the subject of a lawsuit brought by San Martin Neighborhood Alliance, which sought to force the county to do additional extensive and expensive environmental review before proceeding with the project.
The major win for SMNA was the concession from the county that it would reanalyze noise impacts caused by the hangar project within the full-scale environmental review of the airport’s master plan. That analysis eases concerns among some San Martin residents that the county would try to place a regional airport in their rural hamlet in piecemeal steps. The big win for the county – and for its taxpayers – is that a big courtroom battle has been avoided while allowing much-needed hangar space to be constructed.
It’s been said that the sign of a good agreement is when no one walks away from the negotiating table completely happy. The county will have to do more environmental review than it originally planned – and perhaps more than it should have to do, under the law. But, the county and its airborne constituents get their hangars. Construction on the 125,000-square-foot, pre-fab metal facility, which should cost between $5.5 million and $6.5 million, is set to begin in January and end in July.
The San Martin Neighborhood Alliance, on the other hand, will have to live with 100 hangars at South County Airport. However, it gets environmental review of the most likely negative impact of the project – noise pollution – and as part of a full environmental review during the update of the airport’s 20-year master plan.
It looks like the only losers in this case are trial lawyers, and try as we might, we’re having a hard time working up any sympathy for them – even if they have widowed mothers to feed and food to put on the table for their hungry children.
Kudos to both sides for hammering out a reasonable agreement that protects the rural quality of life in San Martin, provides for hangars at South County Airport, and minimizes damage to taxpayers’ pockets at the same time.
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