Commercial Flights Proposed for Base : Aviation: Navy suggests expanded use of Point Mugu airstrip, which could lead to development of regional hub.

U.S. Navy officials met Wednesday with Ventura County officials to propose opening Point Mugu Naval Air Station to commercial airline flights, an offer that could lead to the development of a long-sought regional airport in the county.

The 11,000-foot airstrip, capable of handling the largest aircraft in the world, theoretically could accept as many as 11,500 commercial flights a year, but the concept is still in “the embryo stage” with no details worked out, said Navy Adm. William E. Newman, commander of the base.

“It is absolutely good news for the county,” said Supervisor John K. Flynn, one of six local officials to meet with Newman and his staff. “I think people are going to support it because it is going to help our business climate, it’s going to help employment and it’s not going to hurt the environment.”

Newman said the Navy made the offer because a steady decline in military flights has left the airfield with a lot of flight time that could be sold to commercial airlines to defray costs. Military flights have fallen from more than 70,000 in 1989 and 1990 to 58,500 last year after one squadron transferred to another base and missile tests have decreased, he said.

“We could make this a win-win situation for the Navy and the county,” Newman said. “It would help the Navy share the cost of supporting the runway. The benefit for the county would be obvious. They’ve been looking for this kind of large-instrument-capable airfield.”

But Newman insisted that the offer will in no way signal a decrease in the military’s presence at Point Mugu.

Newman said the Navy could allow daily commercial flights at Point Mugu “provided it doesn’t interfere with our operations,” which include research, testing and development of missiles and radar systems.

County officials said the discussion left them optimistic that the Navy has finally heard their pleas--aired off and on since 1982--to allow commercial traffic at the Point Mugu airstrip, located two miles southeast of Oxnard.

A 1991 study by the Southern California Assn. of Governments named Point Mugu as the best site for a regional airport to serve Ventura County.

“This makes so much sense, it’s scary,” said Richard L. Fausset, a trustee of the Ventura County Economic Development Assn. who attended Wednesday’s meeting in Newman’s office at the base. “We’ve been pushing for this for years. It’s one of the brightest opportunities we have to help us with our current recessionary problems.”

Fausset said that commercial air service at Point Mugu would attract new businesses by making it easier to import and export goods. Existing businesses would also be aided. For instance, “You could fly strawberries across the country,” he said.

Ventura County has three other airports, but their operations are limited because of size or proximity to urban areas. Oxnard Airport handles some commuter airline flights but is being surrounded by the city’s explosive growth. Camarillo and Santa Paula airports are licensed only to handle smaller, general-aviation airplanes.

“It was a very interesting meeting, very positive,” said Russ Baggerly, a top aide to Supervisor Maria VanderKolk. “They are really just initial discussions to explore this possibility. I think the cities, the county and the Navy are looking for ways to work smarter.”

Although the airport could handle the largest commercial aircraft, Baggerly said there are no plans to turn the strip into an international airport. It likely would accept only smaller commuter jets, he said.

But one county environmentalist worried that the additional flights might damage wetlands surrounding Point Mugu and bring more noise and pollution to the county.

“It’s awful,” said Cynthia Leake, vice president of the Ventura County Environmental Coalition. “We would be turned into another LAX. All the houses and the people around there are going to be very unhappy. . . . What evil person is behind this?”

The Navy’s offer comes less than a week after Point Mugu announced that command headquarters of the Naval Air Warfare Center--a complex of Point Mugu and three other testing facilities--will be shifting to a Navy air station at China Lake this summer.

It also comes at a time when the U.S. military budget has been reduced by 4% a year under the Bush Administration--with deeper cutbacks anticipated under President Clinton.

If an agreement is struck, the Navy would provide runway maintenance, air traffic controllers and emergency crews in exchange for fees paid by the commercial airlines, Newman said. Commercial planes likely would follow the existing military flight patterns--usually taking off and landing into the prevailing winds that come off the ocean.

Negotiations with airlines for specific services would be left to the county, and any terminal buildings would have to be built off-base on private land near the runway, he said.

“All I’m involved with is saying there’s a potential use of our runways,” Newman said. “There would have to be negotiations with the government and the Navy to say how this is done properly and to what extent the costs could be shared. There cannot be any adverse impact on the . . . operations of our base.”

Times staff writers Tina Daunt and Carlos V. Lozano contributed to this story.