Harbor Soaring Society use of Fairview Park flying field grounded as talks grind on

An ongoing debate about whether the Harbor Soaring Society — an organization of model aircraft enthusiasts — should continue flying over Costa Mesa’s Fairview Park remains up in the air, after a city committee on Wednesday found resolution still beyond reach.

The Fairview Park Steering Committee is tasked with advising officials on matters that impact the city’s master plan for the 195-acre park, where society members have been flying remote controlled airplanes — and now drones — under some form of an agreement since 1996.

Such a practice has attracted a wide range of enthusiasts, from youngsters yet to earn their wings to retirees maintaining a post-employment passion. But it’s also drawn criticism from area environmentalists who claim the noisy pursuit harms local wildlife, some of which are threatened or protected species.

Last year, with the Harbor Soaring Society’s most recent agreement set to expire Dec. 30, 2020, the Costa Mesa City Council commissioned an evaluation to assess the value of keeping the arrangement going. A review was presented at a steering committee meeting in March, one day before the pandemic-related shutdown of all city property, including Fairview Park’s flying field, grounded talks indefinitely.

Society members submitted a proposal in October, attempting to address issues raised in the evaluation, including the advent of larger, louder aircraft and equally noisy drones, as well as too many members on the field.

Revised this month, it suggested limiting the number of fliers, prohibiting intrusive models, imposing weight limits and creating a certification process.

“We strive to be a partner with the city and park with our flying activities, training and educational programs,” drafters of the proposal assured. “We also want to be good stewards of the site and work collaboratively with park rangers to ensure safe operation of the flying site.”

The plan was presented Wednesday, where newly seated members received an initial airing of the long-debated matter. Numerous public comments were submitted both for and against flying over Fairview, and more speakers commented at the virtual meeting.

“Why is it so hard for people to use the park?” asked Luke Hohman, a young flier interested in pursuing aviation as a career. “I just want to fly my planes — it shouldn’t be a big deal.”

Kim Hendricks, a member of the advocacy group Fairview Park Alliance who noted wildlife is in jeopardy, said even the most well-intended agreement would be impossible to enforce.

“We reject the proposal because the negative impact to the nature would be too great for special use,” Hendricks said.

Soaring Society Vice President Henry Smith said he hoped a solution could be found that would distinguish safe and respectful users from those who exhibit behavior with a negative impact such as noise.

“To punish a lot of good people for the bad actions of a few is bad policy,” he said.

Committee members ultimately decided more work needs to be done to review public input and the city’s evaluation. A subcommittee was formed to further examine the issue, and committee members will take up the issue again at an April 14 meeting.

“There’s a lot of information for us to digest,” said Chairman Andy Campbell. “It may be best to take more time to come up to speed on this particular issue.”

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