Panel Approves Further Study of Point Mugu Airfield : Aviation: Initial findings are favorable for commercial use. Two members are opposed.

Despite vehement opposition from two members, a committee of public officials Wednesday authorized further study of a proposal to bring commercial air service to the Navy’s air strip at Point Mugu.

The Point Mugu Airfield Investigative Committee voted 4 to 2 to accept the initial findings of a feasibility study that a Point Mugu airport would attract civilian passengers from as far away as Santa Barbara and Burbank, but that the airport would get little air freight traffic.

Given the upbeat conclusion, the committee agreed to move forward on the second phase of a study on the feasibility of a commercial airport.

But Ventura County Supervisor Maria VanderKolk and Camarillo City Councilwoman Charlotte Craven sharply objected to the committee considering the airport “feasible” until aviation planners can explain who would pay for such an airport and assure that it would not harm habitat in nearby wetlands, increase smog in the county and cut into farmland designated as greenbelt.

“The implications of what we are doing here are astonishingly huge,” VanderKolk said. “I believe that if we go forward with (the project), it will be the death knell for our way of life in this county. The thought of moving forward with this scares the heck out of me.”

Both women said the committee should have withheld its endorsement of the findings of the study, conducted by the Southern California Assn. of Governments, until environmental and financial issues are resolved.

Committee members include VanderKolk and Craven, Supervisors John K. Flynn and Maggie Kildee, Thousand Oaks City Councilman Frank Schillo, Oxnard Councilman Michael Plisky and Port Hueneme Mayor Orvene Carpenter. The committee is chaired by Navy Capt. Tom Boothe. Kildee was absent from the meeting Wednesday.

Craven accused some committee members of pushing the project along despite insufficient answers to the most serious environmental and financial questions.

“The consultants just blithely went over several areas where, in my opinion, we still do not have adequate answers,” she said. “We are being pushed on this, and I don’t think it’s right.”

The SCAG study, released late last week, concluded that commercial airlines would lure between 1.6 million and 2.5 million passengers a year to Point Mugu by 2010. The study projected that the total cost of building a civilian air terminal next to the Navy’s runway could run as high as $160 million.

Although the study found that the region’s pool of 1.7 million passengers would readily use such a facility, the prospects of a thriving air cargo business were not as good. Most area growers expressed interest in shipping by air, but said they feared higher costs and logistic problems.

Only Ventura County’s fresh-cut flower growers, who serve East Coast domestic markets, said they would immediately take advantage of air cargo service if available.

But Plisky said the results of the study’s first phase were enough to make him confident that the project will work.

“Are there any fatal flaws here? It seems that the answer is no,” Plisky said. “I think we should move on with this thing and get Phase II of the study under way.”

Flynn also heartily endorsed the project.

“If we can combine this with Metrolink and our bus system, we’ll have a total transportation package for the county,” Flynn said. “I don’t see any problems that can’t be worked out.”

Despite the committee’s decision Wednesday, Craven said she will ask the committee at its June 15 meeting to authorize a 30-day public study period of the SCAG report and to invite comment from the public.

“I think it’s very important that people see there are some serious concerns about this project that will impact the whole county--not just eastern Camarillo,” Craven said.

Tim Merwin, SCAG’s chief aviation analyst and author of the Point Mugu study, said Phase II of the report will cost about $80,000. SCAG will pick up the cost.

The second report, which should be ready by October, will study the proposal’s economic benefits, land planning and environmental impact, the interest of commercial airlines and other issues.

FYI

The Point Mugu Airfield Investigative Committee will next meet at 11 a.m. June 15 at the offices of the county Department of Airports at Camarillo Airport, 295 Durley Ave. The public is invited to attend.