MCAS Miramar Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan - San Diego ...

CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTIONUse of the Compatibility Plan is not limited only to the ALUC. As noted above, the compatibilitycriteria must be used by local agencies in their preparation or amendment of land use plans andordinances. The AIA of MCAS Miramar includes lands within four general land usejurisdictions: the County of San Diego and the cities of Poway, San Diego, and Santee. Statelaw requires each local agency to modify its general plan and/or land use policy documents andimplementing ordinances to be consistent with the ALUC's compatibility plan, or take specialsteps to overrule the ALUC. Furthermore, this Compatibility Plan applies not just to the Countyand cities, but to school districts, community college districts, special districts, and other localagencies when these entities consider the siting and design of new facilities or expansion ofexisting ones. Finally, private parties are subject to the provisions of this Compatibility Planeither directly or as implemented in the plans and zoning of the local agencies.This Compatibility Plan replaces the ALUCP for MCAS Miramar that the SDCRAA, acting in itscapacity as the ALUC for San Diego County, adopted in 2004. This action was taken by theALUC in order to amend the Comprehensive Land Use Plan that the San Diego CountyAssociation of Governments (SANDAG), which served as the San Diego County ALUC priorto 2003, originally adopted in 1977 for MCAS Miramar and last amended in 1992. The 2004amendments involved only minor modifications to the previous policies. As required by statelaw (Pub. Util. Code, §21675(b)), this Compatibility Plan is consistent with the safety and noisestandards in the Air Installations Compatible Use Zones (AICUZ) prepared by the United StatesDepartment of Defense for MCAS Miramar, dated December 2004, and revised in March 2005.1.1.2 Statutory RequirementsPowers and DutiesRequirements for the creation of ALUCs were first established under the California AeronauticsAct (Pub. Util. Code, §§21670 et seq.) in 1967. (See Appendix A.) Although the law has beenamended numerous times since then, the fundamental purpose of ALUCs, to promote land usecompatibility around airports, has remained unchanged. As expressed in present statutes, theALUC's purpose is:...to protect public health, safety, and welfare by ensuring the orderlyexpansion of airports and the adoption of land use measures that minimizethe public's exposure to excessive noise and safety hazards within areasaround public airports to the extent that these areas are not already devotedto incompatible uses.The statutes give ALUCs the following powers and duties, subject to limitation, by which toaccomplish this objective:To assist local agencies in ensuring compatible land uses in the vicinity of airports to theextent that such land is not already devoted to incompatible uses;To coordinate planning at the state, regional and local levels, so as to provide for theorderly development of air transportation, while at the same time protecting the publichealth, safety and welfare;To prepare and adopt an airport land use compatibility plan; andTo review the plans, regulations, and certain other actions of local agencies and airportoperators for consistency with that compatibility plan.1–2 MCAS Miramar Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (Adopted October 2008)