Montgomery Gibbs Executive Airport Program EIR

The City Airports Division owns and operates Montgomery Gibbs Executive Airport (MYF) as a general aviation airport located within the Kearny Mesa community north of Aero Drive, east of SR 163, south of Balboa Avenue, and west of Ruffin Road. Airport planning occurs at the national, state, regional, and local level, with the goal of the master planning process to guide planning practices at the local level. The Airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS), which identifies airports that are significant to the national air transportation system and therefore eligible for grant funding under the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program (AIP). In administering funding, the FAA uses the NPIAS, which supports the FAA’s strategic goals for safety, system efficiency, and environmental compatibility by identifying the specific airport improvements that will contribute to the achievement of those goals. Due to MYF’s proximity to downtown San Diego and the large population served, the Airport is classified by the NPIAS as a national reliever airport (FAA 2024a). A reliever airport is one that is in place to accommodate overflow and general aviation traffic that would otherwise cause congestion at a neighboring airport, in this case San Diego International Airport (SAN). At the state level, the California Aviation System Plan 2010 System Needs Assessment identified MYF as the only Metropolitan General Aviation Airport in San Diego County. The SDCRAA developed the Regional Aviation Strategic Plan (RASP) to take a comprehensive look at the civilian airports in the San Diego County region. The RASP explored a scenario that proposed to preserve SAN’s airfield capacity for commercial passenger service by making improvements and accommodating general aviation traffic at MYF, Gillespie Field Airport, and Brown Field Municipal Airport. The 2021 RASP Implementation Report documents the region’s collective progress in implementing the RASP and its continued compatibility with the San Diego Association of Government’s (SANDAG’s) regional transportation planning efforts (SDCRAA 2021). An AMP presents the community and airport’s vision for a 20-year strategic development plan based on the forecast of activity. It is used as a decision-making tool and is intended to complement other local and regional plans. In 2017, the City began developing an update to the AMP for MYF to determine the extent, type, and schedule of development needed based on current projections. The AMP comprises six sections, including: Section 1, Inventory, Surveys, & Data Collection; Section 2, Forecast; Section 3, Facility Requirements; Section 4, Environmental Overview; Section 5, Alternatives; and Section 6, Economic Impact Analysis (C&S Engineers 2019). The conceptual plan selected by the Airports Advisory Committee to implement the AMP is the Proposed Airport Plan. This plan is also referred to as the Preferred Plan within the AMP. For the purposes of the analysis within this PEIR, this plan is also referred to as the project. Airside improvements proposed at Brown Field include a new runup pad (which is currently lacking for the smaller runway), and would reconfigure several taxiways to bring them into compliance with current FAA design standards.