Commercial Airport at Pt. Mugu to Be Studied

A Ventura County panel on Wednesday authorized a study to determine the feasibility of building and operating a commercial airport that shares the runway at Point Mugu Naval Air Station.

Capt. Paul Valovich, commanding officer of the Navy base, said preliminary results due before the year’s end should determine whether there are any “showstoppers.”

“These are things that would be absolute roadblocks that would cause us to discontinue the project,” he said.

Valovich said the study will look at safety and environmental concerns as well as economic factors. Aviation experts will try to determine whether commercial airlines would have any interest in having air freight and passenger flights at Point Mugu.

“We have to have some idea that the airlines are interested before we spend a whole lot of money,” the base commander said.

Valovich serves as the non-voting chairman of a county committee that has been reviewing the proposed commercial airport next to the Point Mugu base. The panel authorized the study during a meeting Wednesday.

The initial part of the study, expected to cost about $136,000, will not require county or military dollars, Valovich said.

The report will be prepared by the Southern California Assn. of Governments. The Federal Aviation Administration will pay 90% of the costs and SCAG will pick up the remainder, Valovich said.

If the initial research is positive, an additional in-depth study will be considered.

The feasibility study is the latest development to follow the Navy’s surprise announcement in March that it is willing to share its 11,000-foot-long runway at Point Mugu with commercial jets.

Navy officials, who had resisted the idea for 20 years, said that letting civilian aircraft use the runway could generate revenue to defray the cost of operating the base. They also said a drop in the number of military flights due to budget cuts at the base had freed runway time that could be used by civilian jets.

Ventura County business leaders and some elected officials quickly applauded the proposal as a potential economic boon. But other residents expressed concern about the noise problems and environmental damage a civilian airport could cause.

Much of the early opposition has come from adjacent Camarillo, where Point Mugu’s military flights have triggered noise complaints in the past.

The feasibility study is expected to address the noise issue.

“It’s just one more step in the process,” said Ventura County Supervisor Maggie Kildee, who serves on the airport panel. “All of this information needs to be gathered together at first to see if we should go any further.”

The Navy has indicated that it does not want a civilian airport terminal built on Navy land. But supporters say a terminal, financed largely by the FAA, could be built just outside the base, with a taxiway connecting it to the runway.

Navy officials have also cautioned that the proposed civilian airport cannot interfere with military operations or base security.

Kildee said the economic viability of a Point Mugu airport must be examined carefully. “There certainly is no county money to go into this,” she said. “It will have to pay for itself.”

Kildee said she has not decided whether to support the idea.

“The Navy has offered this as a possibility,” she said. “I need to take a look at what the impacts will be, both pro and con.

“Ultimately, it will be a decision by the Board of Supervisors, after all the information is gathered, and there are public hearings--unless there is a ‘showstopper.’ ”