Carlsbad joins airport group’s lawsuit against the county

Carlsbad will be allowed to join a lawsuit filed in January by the group Citizens for a Friendly Airport challenging the San Diego County Board of Supervisors’ approval of a lease for American Airlines at McClellan-Palomar Airport, a Superior Court judge said Friday.

“The city believes the county’s recent actions regarding the airport, including rescinding a policy limiting aircraft size and approving a commercial lease with American Airlines, require the county to obtain an amendment to the airport’s conditional-use permit,” said Amy Ventetuolo, Carlsbad’s communications and engagement director.

“This … is a key issue in the lawsuit filed by Citizens for a Friendly Airport against the county and American Airlines,” she said.  “The city sought and obtained permission to join the lawsuit to ensure the city’s interests on this issue are effectively represented.”

Attorneys for the county and American Airlines opposed the city’s participation, saying the conditional-use permit is unrelated to the lease that allowed American to resume daily service in Carlsbad early this year.

“I don’t see a problem,” said San Diego Superior Court Judge Gregory Pollack, in support of allowing Carlsbad to participate. “Flights are flying into their city … they are basically siding with the plaintiff.”

Citizens for a Friendly Airport filed its suit weeks after the supervisors approved American’s lease to use the airport owned and operated by the county at the geographic center of Carlsbad.

The group claims that the lease violates the California Environmental Quality Act on issues such as noise and air pollution, and that the lease allows American to exceed a county policy that limits aircraft using the airport to a maximum of 70 seats.

McClellan-Palomar Airport is used primarily by private industrial and recreational aircraft. A hearing on the citizens lawsuit is set for Dec. 19.

The citizens group and the city filed separate lawsuits against the county over its 2018 approval of a master plan for the Carlsbad airport. The master plan replaced an outdated plan approved in 1997. It took four years to prepare and involved periodic community meetings, yet many Carlsbad residents said they were left out of the process.

Carlsbad settled its case with an agreement in 2019 to set up a 20-year framework for periodic discussions of concerns about airport issues with county officials.

The citizens group continued to pursue its case, and Judge Pollack ruled Jan. 26, 2021, that the county’s airport master plan update was invalid.

Pollack said the county must do more to make the plan comply with the Environmental Quality Act. The county revoked its approval, revised the update with additional noise studies and other modifications, and approved a new version of the master plan in December 2021.

American Airlines previously flew its American Eagle service daily from Carlsbad to Los Angeles from 1991 to 1997.

United Airlines also has announced plans to return to the Carlsbad airport, beginning in March, with daily flights to Denver and San Francisco.

United provided regular service on its United Express flights between Carlsbad and Los Angeles from 1996 to 2016.