Competition by Navy Base May Imperil City Airfield : Aviation: Point Mugu booster says commercial use of military runway and development both threaten Oxnard Airport.

With development hemming in Oxnard Airport, possible civilian flights from Point Mugu Naval Air Station could signal the beginning of the end for the airport, a Mugu advocate has predicted.

But others say it is too early to predict how Oxnard Airport will be affected by the potential creation of a new commercial airport. And Oxnard leaders believe their city’s airport will remain open, no matter what happens at Point Mugu.

Richard L. Fausset, a developer who has long pushed for a county airport at Point Mugu, offered his opinion at a town hall meeting Wednesday in Port Hueneme. It was the second such forum since the Navy’s surprise announcement in March of its willingness to share the air station’s world-class, 11,000-foot runway.

“My suspicion is Mugu would replace Oxnard as the county’s commercial airport,” Fausset said.

An executive committee of public officials has outlined a strategy to examine the Navy’s proposal, establishing 11 technical committees to evaluate different subject areas.

At the same time, the Southern California Assn. of Governments is conducting a $136,000 feasibility study of the plan. The Federal Aviation Administration has agreed to pick up 90% of the study’s cost and the report is expected to be completed by January.

Many who attended the session wanted to know who would operate the proposed joint-use facility at Point Mugu, and questioned the proposal’s feasibility. Others wanted to know how the presence of a commercial facility at Point Mugu would affect the Camarillo and Oxnard airports.

Representing the Ventura County Economic Development Assn., Fausset said Point Mugu’s geographical isolation would help protect it from the same development pressures facing Oxnard Airport.

“One of the biggest problems airports have is encroachment by incompatible development,” Fausset said. “We’re watching that now in Oxnard, where they’re putting in a McDonald’s near the runway and approving residential projects nearby.”

Fausset said after the meeting that complaints over noise and possible accidents by neighbors of Oxnard Airport will eventually spell an end to the airport’s commercial flights.

“I think the encroachment on Oxnard Airport is making it more difficult than ever to put (Boeing) 727s and 737s in there,” he said.

Councilman Andres Herrera, a member of the Oxnard Airport Authority, challenged Fausset’s prediction Thursday, saying the city hopes to preserve the current level of commercial service at Oxnard Airport.

“There will always be room for the kind of commercial operations that we have at the Oxnard Airport,” Herrera said.

Preserving Oxnard Airport will require holding development at bay, something the city is not known for, said Gary Petrowski, president of the Oxnard Airport Assn., which represents the airport’s users.

“We waged a strong but losing battle against the construction of the McDonald’s on Ventura Road,” Petrowski said. “We fear that new residential development will present similar problems, not from a safety standpoint but as a nuisance issue. There has already been vocal criticism of airport operations by homeowner groups to the south, and the new projects are closer.”

Marshall MacKinen, director of airports in the county, said that Oxnard Airport should survive complaints from nearby residents and competition from a new Point Mugu airport.

But continued development could force the airport to deal with more noise complaints and the increased fear of an aircraft crashing into a building, he said. “Noise problems don’t go away--they have to be addressed,” MacKinen said.

If Oxnard Airport closed, the county could be liable to repay the FAA for past improvements, including $2 million spent last year to refurbish the runway, MacKinen said.

Ironically, though, more federal money may be available each year if Oxnard Airport were restricted to privately owned planes, MacKinen said. With just 46,000 commercial passengers in 1990, the airport collects $400,000 a year from the Aviation Trust Fund. But the airport could qualify for far more money as a general aviation airport, he said.

MacKinen predicted a bright future for Oxnard Airport regardless of the outcome of the Navy’s offer to share its runway.

“I don’t want to see the airport closed,” MacKinen said. “If commercial air carriers do take over Point Mugu and commuter airlines move from Oxnard, the airport would still be a viable center.”