Camarillo City Council
AGENDA REPORT
Date: April 10, 2024
To: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
From: Greg Ramirez, City Manager
Submitted by: Michelle D’Anna, Assistant to the City Manager Subject: Update to the Camarillo City Council on the Camarillo Airport
BACKGROUND
The City of Camarillo is aware that community members have questions and concerns about the Camarillo Airport. The purpose of this discussion item is to share an update with the City Council, to correct misinformation that is circulating in the community, allow the City Council to receive public comment, and provide the opportunity for the City Council to offer guidance to the two Councilmembers who represent the City of Camarillo on the Airport Authority.
DISCUSSION
The Camarillo Airport is owned and operated by the Ventura County Department of Airports. The City of Camarillo and the County of Ventura entered into an Agreement in 1976 for the operation of the Camarillo Airport (Attachment 1). The Agreement was updated in 1985 (Attachment 2). The Agreement imposes restrictions listed in Exhibit B on the airport operations including, but not limited to, limiting the size of aircraft; limiting the hours of operation; and ensuring that the airport remains a general aviation airport, not a commercial airport.
The Agreement establishes that the City remains part of the Camarillo Airport Authority, which is an advisory body made up of two members of the Camarillo City Council, two members of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, and one person who owns a plane at the Camarillo Airport. The Airport Authority makes recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, and the Board of Supervisors has final decision-making authority on all matters at the Camarillo Airport.
Congress amended federal law in 1990 to significantly curtail state and local noise and access restrictions. The 1976 JPA and subsequent 1985 amendment are “grandfathered” because they preceded the change in federal law. Any change to the amendment after
Camarillo Airport Update
April 10, 2024
1 7
9 8
1990 could impact the status of the Agreement as currently written and would require the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
In 2021, the County initiated a Camarillo Airport Master Plan process as part of a regulatory requirement from the FAA to formally update the County’s current 2010-11 Master Plan. During the first community meeting on the project, concerns arose about the County’s intentions with the Airport Master Plan and questions surfaced due to public statements made by County consultants about the validity of the 1976 Agreement.
Dialogue between the City and County ensued. In a letter dated January 19, 2022, Ventura County stated that the County concurs that the 1976 Agreement is valid and enforceable, thereby reaffirming that the County is no longer asking the City to explore changes to the restrictions included in the 1976 Agreement (Attachment 3).
In July 2022, the County of Ventura received approval from the FAA to transition from the Master Plan Airport Study to an Airport Layout Plan (ALP) Update. An ALP Update will allow the Airport to maintain its current 2010-11 Master Plan, while updating near-term planning goals and bringing the ALP plan set into compliance with FAA standards. The ALP is a short-term planning study for Camarillo Airport that is narrowly focused and does not consider significant changes to the role of the airport and assumes the current role of the airport as a general aviation facility will remain the same. The ALP will provide a plan for maintenance/rehabilitation of existing pavements and facilities, have a short-term (5- 7 years) capital improvement plan, and will meet the FAA requirement for a current/approved ALP. (Attachment 4)
Multiple community meetings have been incorporated into the County’s ALP Update process. At those meetings, Ventura County Airports Director Keith Freitas confirmed that the County is not seeking any changes to the 1976 Agreement. Specifically, the County is not seeking scheduled airline service, no air freight operations, and no changes to the runway length. The full draft of the Final Camarillo Airport – Airport Layout Plan Narrative is available for public review on the Ventura County Department of Airports’ website (vcairports.org). The comment period will remain open through May 10, 2024.
Separately, the County is also preparing a Part 150 Noise Compatibility Study (Attachment 5). This is a voluntary study, funded by a grant from the FAA, to update the Noise Exposure Maps for Camarillo Airport published in 1998 and Part 150 Study Noise Compatibility Program adopted in 1999. The next community meeting for the Part 150 is scheduled for June 3, 2024.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no budget impact as a result of this action.
RECOMMENDATION
Receive and file the Camarillo Airport update from City staff and provide direction to the two Councilmembers who represent the City of Camarillo the Airport Authority.
Camarillo Airport Update
April 10, 2024
1 7
9 8
ATTACHMENTS
1. 1976 Agreement between City of Camarillo and County of Ventura
2. 1985 Update to the 1976 Agreement between City and County
3. Letter from former Ventura County CEO Mike Powers to Camarillo City Manager Greg Ramirez, January 19, 2022
4. County of Ventura Department of Airports - Airport Layout Plan Flyer
5. County of Ventura Department of Airports - Part 150 Noise Compatibility Flyer REFERENCE MATERIALS – AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW AT CITY HALL •County of Ventura Department of Airports website: vcairports.org. •County of Ventura’s Camarillo Airport Layout Plan Update Project Website: https://cma-alp-update.airportstudy.net/
•County of Ventura’s Camarillo Airport Part 150 Study Website: https://cma-noise- study.airportstudy.net/
•City of Camarillo’s Camarillo Airport Trending Topics Webpage:
cityofcamarillo.org/trending [SELECT: Camarillo Airport]