OXNARD : City to Discuss Flight Test Plan With Navy

Oxnard joined forces with residents worried about safety and noise Tuesday by voting to take part in discussions with the Navy about its plan to conduct flight testing offshore from Silver Strand Beach.

The City Council unanimously approved sending a city representative to a meeting today among Navy officials, beach residents and county Supervisor John Flynn.

The Navy is proposing to fly Lear jets 100 feet above the ocean toward a military facility to test its combat weapons system. Although the project is not within Oxnard city limits, Oxnard Coastal Planner Deanna Walsh said she is concerned about the potential for accidents.

“There could be impacts if a plane crashed,” Walsh said. “A plane could crash in [either] Oxnard or Port Hueneme. All we want is some information as to noise and to the fact that the aircraft are flying only 100 feet from the deck.”

Oxnard city staff had proposed drafting a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration demanding that the Navy prepare another environmental report on the proposed project.

But city officials decided to first join in discussions.

Navy spokeswoman Teri Reid said the report now under review by the FAA already has concluded that the project would not have any significant effects on noise or safety in the area.

Reid added that the Navy has further modified its plan to alleviate the public’s concerns about the low-altitude testing. According to Reid, the Navy now plans to fly no closer than six miles from the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary, a breeding ground for protected animals in the northern Channel Islands.

In addition, the Navy will ask the FAA to establish a special-use airspace half a mile offshore instead of at the shoreline so homeowners will not have to disclose the existence of the testing area when selling their homes.

Last month, the Navy officials had said they would use quieter Lear jets instead of fighter planes.

“We think we have done all we can without having a significant impact on our ability to do our mission,” Reid said.