The County of San Diego will start the process of creating a new master plan for McClellan-Palomar Airport Wednesday by holding a public forum to get feedback from people about what they think the airport should look like in the future.
The meeting is scheduled to be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 5 at the City of Carlsbad’s Faraday Center at 1635 Faraday Avenue in Carlsbad.
The workshop will include a presentation about the master-plan process, upcoming events, a review of previous master plans and the airport’s existing facilities, and forecasts of how much traffic the airport expects to get in the future.
The workshop will be held in an open-house format, with multiple “project stations” set up with officials ready to answer questions and collect feedback.
Getting input from the public and “user groups” — including, among others, airport tenants, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, the cities of Carlsbad, San Marcos, Vista, Oceanside and Encinitas, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) — is one of the first steps in the process of creating a new master plan.
The County, which owns and operates McClellan-Palomar Airport, is the lead agency in the master plan process and is working with all of the user groups to ensure the creation of a good plan.
Other steps in the master plan process will include conducting technical analysis and environmental review, weighing financial considerations, and undergoing reviews by the County and the Palomar Airport Advisory Committee. The new master plan will have to be approved by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
The goal of the master plan process is to identify and assess strategies to meet the airport’s future aviation, safety, facility and operational needs, and to develop alternatives to meet those needs over the next 20 years.
McClellan-Palomar’s current master plan was created in 1997 to guide development through 2015. The new master plan would be expected to guide the airport’s development through 2035.
Wednesday’s meeting is the first of a series of anticipated public workshops.
For more information about the workshop and the McClellan-Palomar Airport master plan update process, go to the County Department of Public Work’s (DPW) master plan update Web page.
For more information about the County’s other airports, go to DPW’s airports Web page.
For additional questions, email PalomarMP@kimley-horn.com.
