General Plan - Moreno Valley

CHAPTER 6 – SAFETYAPZ II extends an additional 7,000 feetbeyond APZ I along Old Highway 215.The AICUZ Report provided land userecommendations for each accident potentialzone. The main objective has been to restrictpeople-intensive uses because there is agreater public safety risk in these areas. Thebasic criteria for APZ I and APZ II land useguidelines is the prevention of uses which:_have high residential densitycharacteristics;- are labor intensive;__promote concentrations or extendedduration of concentration of people, inparticular, of people who are unable torespond to emergency situations suchas children, elderly, handicapped;involve utilities and services requiredfor the area to which disruption wouldhave a significant adverse impact (e.g.electrical substations, telephoneswitching stations, etc.); or posehazards to aircraft operations.Precise maps of the air crash hazard areas(safety zones) in the vicinity of March wereprepared to reflect the actual flight pattern fordepartures. Departing aircraft turn to thewest shortly after takeoff. The resulting aircrash hazard areas, shown on Figure 6-5,slant to the west of the accident potentialzones shown in the 1998 AICUZ Report.Tall structures are also an issue in the vicinityof airports. Federal Aviation Regulations(FAR) Part 77 recommends that localMORENO VALLEY GENERAL PLANjurisdictions institute height controls to limittall structures that might present hazards toaircraft operations. Part 77 defines thenavigable airspace around airports to helplocal jurisdictions determine if a proposed tallstructure might interfere with air operations.Commencing 2002, March was undergoinga transition from a military airport to a jointmilitary and civilian airport. The PublicResources Code of the State of Californiarequires the Airport Land Use Commissionfor Riverside County to prepare acomprehensive land use plan for eachpublic airport.Such plans are intended to allow for orderlygrowth of each airport and the area aroundeach airport while safeguarding the publicwelfare.6.10.2. Issues and OpportunitiesThe establishment of tall structures aroundairports and inappropriate uses in areassubject to air crash hazards couldsubstantially increase the risk for loss of livesand property. As such, land use restrictionsare needed in these areas in the interest ofpublic safety. Such restrictions are alsoneeded to ensure the long-term viability ofthe airport.Potential complaints and litigation brought bypeople who live or work in these areas couldforce restrictions on flight operations andeven closure of the airport. Therefore, it is inthe economic interest of the region todiscourage incompatible uses where there isa high potential for aircraft accidents.Page 6-29 July 11, 2006