Carlsbad City Council Unanimously Approves CBLG Client’s Proposed Language Defining “Airport Expansion”

The Carlsbad City Council unanimously approved changes to the Carlsbad’s General Plan and zoning ordinance requiring more scrutinous review of expansions or additions to the runway at the McClellan-Palomar Airport. Chatten-Brown Law Group submitted numerous comments on behalf of Citizens for a Friendly Airport to aid in the administrative review for the revisions to the City’s ordinances.

​The McClellan-Palomar Airport was annexed to the County of San Diego in 1978, which allowed for the County to operate the airport in Carlsbad. The airport was operated pursuant to the County’s Conditional Use Permit, which required the County to seek an amendment if the airport was ever to be expanded. Citizens for a Friendly Airport raised concerns that the language of the City’s ordinances left a loophole through which the County could continually expand extend or realign the runways without amending the Conditional Use Permit, allowing larger aircraft to operate at the airport without undertaking the necessary review. CBLG’s comments specifically detailed the necessary revisions to the City’s codes that would allow for City Council to review any additional extensions of the runway.

​In response to concerns raised by the Carlsbad community, including Citizens for a Friendly Airport, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. CS-479, which clarifies that the definition of “airport expansion” includes the extension or realignment of an existing runway or the construction of a new runway. Any future expansion of the runway at McClellan-Palomar will now require an amendment to the Conditional Use Permit, as well as additional environmental review and community outreach.

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