Letter from City of Camarillo to Ventura County Board of Supervisors
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City of Camarillo 601 Carmen Drive P.O. Box 248 Camarillo, CA 93011-0248 Office of the City Manager (805) 388-5307 FAX (805) 388-5318 June 10, 2020 VIA EMAIL Board of Supervisors County of Ventura c/o Clerk of the Board [email protected] 800 S. Victoria Avenue Ventura, California 93003 Re: Final Mitigated Negative Declaration for the CloudNine Project at Camarillo Airport Board Meeting: June 16, 2020 Dear Supervisors: The City of Camarillo (‘City”) hereby submits the following comments in regard to the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration for the CloudNine Project at Camarillo Airport. As noted below, the City is requesting that the Board require that the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration for this Project include the following language: The Project must comply with the terms and restrictions in the October 13, 1976 Agreement Between County of Ventura and City of Camarillo Pertaining to Camarillo Airport Development and Surrounding Land Use except to the extent, if at all, a term or restriction of that Agreement is preempted by federal or state law. BACKGROUND On October 17, 1976, the County of Ventura and the City of Camarillo entered into an Agreement Between County of Ventura and City of Camarillo Pertaining to Camarillo Airport Development and Surrounding Land Use (“1976 Agreement”). A copy of the 1976 Agreement is attached hereto as Exhibit “1” and Exhibit B to the 1976 Agreement includes “Camarillo Airport Restrictions” including Restriction #4 which reads: “An aircraft weight limitation of 115,000 lbs. (twin wheel) shall be in effect.” The Final Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the Project includes language which expressly conflicts with the limitations imposed by the 1976 Agreement in that the MND allows for aircraft in excess of the 115,000 lbs limitation by including business jets. Attached hereto as Exhibit 2 is a copy of excerpts from the MND which include the following statements: Board of Supervisors June 10, 2020 Page 2 Page 6: “This depth can accommodate an aircraft such as the Boeing Business Jet 737- 800 or a Gulfstream G650, two of the largest types of aircraft that are anticipated to use the airport. Page 8: As noted in the table (page 9), the Proposed Project contours were modeled with additional turboprop and business jet aircraft which are anticipated to operate at the airport as a result of the proposed Cloud 9 development. Page 9: Table Bottom of page lists the G650 and Boeing Business Jets with each to have Annual Operations of 312. On November 19, 2019, the Applicant for this Project (RKR Incorporated) submitted a letter to the Ventura County Department of Airports (attached as Exhibit “3”) which includes the following statement on page 1: “To be clear, RKR, Inc is NOT and has NO intention now or in the future to allow Boeing 737 aircraft to operate from the CloudNine location.” (bolding in original letter). On November 20, 2019, the City submitted a letter to the Department of Airports commenting upon the Mitigated Negative Declaration and noted that the MND fails to acknowledge the 1976 Agreement and the Airport Restrictions (see pages 1 to 2 of the City’s letter attached hereto as Exhibit “4”). On December 31, 2019, Kip Turner submitted a letter to the Ventura County Transportation Commission which included the following statement on page 1 (Exhibit “5” hereto): “The CloudNine project is currently undergoing environmental review, with a draft Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) having been opened for public comment on October 21, 2019, and closed on November 20, 2019. The County’s review of those public comments is ongoing, and it is anticipated that the MND, including any revisions that come out of the public-comment process, will be presented to the County’s Board of Supervisors in early 2020 for approval.” (Emphasis Added) On February 26, 2020, the City Council voted unanimously to adopt a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Camarillo in Support of Requiring CloudNine Project at Camarillo Airport to Comply with 1976 Agreement between City of Camarillo and County of Ventura (Exhibit “6” attached hereto) which resolves that the Resolution be submitted to the County recommending that the County, among other things: “amend the MND to require that the Project comply with the 1976 Agreement between the City and County including, but not limited to, the Camarillo Airport Restrictions except to the extent, if at all a term or Restriction of the 1976 Agreement is preempted by federal or state law.” On March 12, 2020, Camarillo City Attorney Brian Pierik appeared before the Camarillo Airport Authority and made comments regarding the draft MND regarding the restrictions of the 1976 Agreement between the City and County, the provisions of the MND regarding business jets, the letter from Mr. Rasak of November 19, 2019 which stated that RKR had no intention now or in the future to allow Boeing 737 aircraft to operate from the CloudNine location, the City’s letter of November 20, 2019 commenting upon the MND and the December 31, 2019 letter from Mr. Turner. Mr. Pierik requested the Camarillo Airport Authority to agree to add to the MND the underlined language in the response to comments (Exhibit “7”) attached hereto: “The Project must comply with the restrictions in the Board of Supervisors June 10, 2020 Page 3 Agreement except to the extent, if at all, a term or Restriction in the 1976 Agreement is preempted by federal or state law.” The Camarillo Airport Authority voted to approve the MND as submitted without the additional language requested by the City. REQUEST The City is hereby requesting that the Board of Supervisors take action at its meeting on June 16, 2020 approving the addition to the MND following language: “The Project must comply with the restrictions in the Agreement except to the extent, if at all, a term or Restriction in the 1976 Agreement is preempted by federal or state law.” There is ample reason to add this language since otherwise the Applicant could, under the terms of the MND as presently written, argue at some time in the future that this Project can allow for business jet aircraft. Since the Applicant has expressly stated in the letter of November 19, 2019 that it has “NO intention now or in the future to allow Boeing 737 aircraft to operate from the CloudNine location”, there is no reason that commitment should not be memorialized in the MND. A letter from the Applicant is not a commitment, it is just a letter. This commitment needs to be confirmed in the MND. The City further requests that the Board not approve the MND unless the language requested by the City regarding compliance with the 1976 Agreement is added to the MND. We urge the Board to take the action the City has requested herein and include in the MND the language set forth in this Request and not to approve the MND unless this language is added. Thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, Carmen Nichols Interim City Manager cc: Supervisor Steve Bennett - [email protected] Supervisor Linda Parks - [email protected] Supervisor Kelly Long - [email protected] Supervisor Bob Huber - [email protected] Supervisor John Zaragoza - [email protected] Leroy Smith, County Counsel Camarillo Mayor Anthony Trembley Camarillo Vice Mayor Susan Santangelo Charlotte Craven, Camarillo City Council Member Shawn Mulchay, Camarillo City Council Member Kevin Kildee, Camarillo City Council Member Enclosures: Exhibit 1 to 7 as noted agreement between county of VENTURA AND CITY OF CAMARILLO PERTAINING TO CAMARILLO AIRPORT DEVELOP MENT AND SURROUNDING LAND USE THIS AGREEMENT is entered into by and between the COUNTY OF VENTURA (hereinafter "COUNTY") and the CITY OP CAMARILLO (hereinafter "CITY") and shall become binding and effective upon the date of the last signa ture hereupon. The parties make the following recitals: A. COUNTY has been granted possession of the major portion of the former Oxnard Air Force Base under lease from the Federal Government for use as a public airport facility (which facility is hereinafter referred to as the "Camarillo Airport"). B. COUNTY and CITY anticipate that fee title to the Camarillo Airport will be transferred from the Federal Government to COUNTY in the near future « in accordance with COUNTY'S application therefor. , C. COUNTY'S application for transfer of Camarillo Airport calls for the establishment of a joint powers body representing COUNTY and CITY to oversee airport development. D • Most of the Camarillo Airport and much of the land surrounding the airport is located within CITY. E. COUNTY and'CITY desire to achieve maximum mutual cooperation in the development of Camarillo Airport and to" maintain a balanced perspective in fulfilling COUNTY aviation requirements within a framework of continuing community sensitivity. 10/13/76 ^ Ml EXHIBIT 1 s? F. COUNTY and CITY objectives will be realized by a joint exercise of powers by and between COUNTY and CITY to form a joint review body to oversee airport development and surrounding land use planning. Based upon the foregoing recitals, the parties do hereby agree as follows: • I V 1. COUNTY and CITY do hereby jointly exercise their powers and create the Camarillo Airport Authority (hereinafter "Authority"). 2. The Authority shall be composedI of two methbers of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, which members shall be selected by the Board of Supervisors; two members of the Camarillo City Council, which members shall be selected by the City Council; and a fifth member to be selected by a majority of the other four members. • 3. The Ventura County Board of Supervisors shall not give formal approval or otherwise act upon any matter brought before it pertaining to development, operation or any other matter at the Camarillo Airport until the matter shall have first been submitted to the Authority and a recommendation received therefrom.