San Diego

A San Diego Assn. of Governments committee Thursday agreed to study a “multiple airport” solution to the region’s need for a long-term alternative to increasingly crowded Lindbergh Field.

The plan, proposed Sept. 12 by San Diego City Councilmen Ron Roberts and Bob Filner, would add a fourth option to the list of alternatives being studied by the Sandag panel. The committee now is exploring the feasibility of shifting the regional airport to Miramar Naval Air Station, a site east of Miramar and a binational airport on the Mexican border.

As envisioned by Roberts and Filner, city-owned Brown Field on Otay Mesa, now a general aviation airport, would be expanded into a major facility operating in conjunction with Lindbergh. Montgomery Field and Palomar Airport in Carlsbad might also be used for commuter air traffic.

The mix of air traffic at Brown and Lindbergh fields would be determined in the future, depending on Sandag study of noise, ground access, environmental constraints and the technical feasibility of landing airliners at Brown Field.

Sandag’s Board of Directors will vote on the proposed study today.