The California Coastal Commission will consider a request Thursday by Carlsbad for greater control over development near McClellan-Palomar Airport.
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The airport at the northwest corner of El Camino Real and Palomar Airport Road is outside the coastal zone overseen by the state commission, so its approval of the city’s request would have little or no effect on the San Diego County owned-and-operated facility.
However, any changes could affect uses on nearby properties should the county consider expanding the airport outside its current boundaries.
As part of its request, Carlsbad is asking the commission to redefine the terms “airport” and “airport expansion” in some agricultural, commercial and industrial areas of the coastal zone. It also is asking to remove airports as an allowable use in some of those areas.
An airport expansion “means to enlarge or increase the size of an existing structure or land use including the physical size of the property, building, parking and other improvements,” under the update proposed to the commission. The commission’s staff has recommended approval at a meeting Thursday in Ventura.
County officials have submitted a letter to the commission opposing the requested changes.
“By redefining the terms ‘Airport’ and ‘Airport Expansion’ and taking other actions, the proposed amendments … seek to prevent the County from making necessary safety improvements to the Airport,” states the March 6 letter signed by Marisa K. Barrie.
The county plans to install an “engineered materials arresting system” at the end of the airport’s one runway. The system is essentially a pit of sand or gravel that can bring a plane to a safe stop if it overshoots the runway.
Also, in an updated master plan approved by the county Board of Supervisors in 2021, there is a proposal to extend the runway by 200 feet and to realign the runway and taxiways within the existing footprint of the airport. None of the county’s proposed work has been funded or scheduled.
Carlsbad is requesting the proposed changes as an amendment to its local coastal program, which is a document certified by the commission granting the city the authority to issue permits for development within the coastal zone.
“The proposed amendment updates the permit process policies to clarify that the City Council continues to retain authority over permits for airport uses,” states a Coastal Commission staff report prepared for the meeting. “The proposed amendment clarifies the City’s code requirements and permit review procedures to provide orderly development of the airport.”
The recent return of commercial airline service to the airport has brought renewed attention to complaints from Carlsbad residents about noise and low-flying aircraft.
A local airport watchdog group called Citizens for a Friendly Airport filed its third lawsuit in June against the county Board of Supervisors and the two airlines involved, American and United, challenging the board’s approval of leases with the airlines.
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A San Diego Superior Court judge approved the Carlsbad City Council’s request in November to join a lawsuit the group filed in 2025 against the county and American. City officials said at the time they believe the American lease violates the conditional use permit Carlsbad issued the county years ago for the airport.
So far, city officials have not indicated they will take any additional legal action. A hearing for the first lawsuit is tentatively set for August.
The group alleges that the leases violate the California Environmental Quality Act. Also, the group has said the leases are an expansion of the airport that violates a conditional use permit issued years ago by the city.
County officials have said the flights comply with CEQA and are allowed under the existing permit. They also say there is no expansion because the airport footprint has not changed, and regular commercial service has been available there in the past.
Carlsbad officials in an April 27 letter to the Coastal Commission said, “The city has the ultimate decision-making authority on land use matters within its jurisdiction, except to the extent that a court were to find that such actions conflict with federal law or regulation.”
The proposed changes help to verify the city’s authority in those land-use matters, states the letter signed by Director of Community Development Mike Strong.
“The proposed amendments and procedures have no effect on the continued operation of McClellan-Palomar Airport as a General Aviation Airport,” Strong’s letter states. “Rather, they specify and clarify the city’s code requirements and permit review procedures in the event of a proposal to expand McClellan-Palomar Airport.”
The proposed amendments will make the city’s internal planning documents more consistent, he said.
“The California Coastal Commission is not the correct forum to consider disagreements on the city’s permit review procedures for an airport expansion outside the coastal zone,” Strong said. “This is a matter that is best resolved between the City of Carlsbad and the County of San Diego.”
The airport opened in 1959, when the area was outside the city and mostly undeveloped. The city annexed the airport and the surrounding property in 1979.
Today, it is near the geographic center of Carlsbad, surrounded by increasing industrial and residential development.
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