VROOM... Variety in Rural Options of Mobility Public Draft–Aug/Sept 2017 6. AVIATION SYSTEM ELEMENT With the region’s nine public-use airports, residents and visitors have access to faster travel which can connect them to (or from) “Aviation gives the interregional, interstate, and international destinations. The aviation State’s multimodal system is part of a multimodal transportation system, as it connects transportation system people and packages (air passengers and air freight) to surface access, range, and speed.” (highway), sea, and rail transport. Humboldt’s aviation system is part of a robust California aviation system which – California Aviation System Plan, 2016 improves mobility options, generates tax revenue, saves lives through emergency response, medical, and firefighting services, produces over $170 billion in air cargo revenues annually, and generates over $14 billion to the State’s tourism industry (2016 RTP Guidelines). AIRPORT ACCESS & MOBILITY Airside & Landside “Airside” and “landside” are terms that describe areas of an airport. When navigating around airports, landside generically means the area outside (external to) the passenger boarding area, and airside generically means the internal area for boarding aircraft, including skyways and runways. The boundary between the two is that area of security checkpoints, and passport and customs control. When discussing airports in the context of transportation planning, the landside and airside areas are considered more broadly. In this context, the landside area encompasses the external roads and other travelways that give ingress and egress to the airport, which usually means including local roads and state highways. The broader airside includes the airport’s surface grounds for ground support and emergency vehicles, including ramps, aprons, runways, and taxiways. Congestion and other barriers on either side can impede mobility. Congestion on the landside can affect whether passengers make or miss their scheduled flights; congestion on the airside can affect how well airplanes meet their scheduled arrival and departure times. In this sense, landside deals more with ground transportation, whereas airside deals more with air transportation. In furthering the goal for regional transportation mobility, access, and connectivity, the multi-modal transportation system focuses on local airports’ landside. Ground access to airports is important not only to passengers, but also to airport employees, air cargo, and public transit. To have an integrated, multi-modal system, people must have a choice of modes to reach an airport, with access being comfortable and convenient for walking, biking, transit, and taxis/shuttles, as well as driving. The quality of ground access also certainly affects goods movement/freight operations/performance. For instance, the pavement condition (particularly for heavier trucks), number of lanes, and lane widths will affect freight access/movement. HCAOG 20-Year RTP–2017 Update/Public Draft 6-84 6. Aviation System Element VROOM... Variety in Rural Options of Mobility Public Draft–Aug/Sept 2017 REGIONAL AVIATION SYSTEM Of the region’s nine public-use airports, six are owned by the County of Humboldt and managed by the Aviation and Airport Division of the Humboldt County Public Works Department. The other three are owned by three different jurisdictions: the City of Eureka owns and manages Samoa Field Airport (formerly called Eureka Municipal Airport); the Hoopa Valley Tribal Council owns and manages the Hoopa Airport; and the Shelter Cove Resort Improvement District #1, owns and manages the Shelter Cove Airport, located in Shelter Cove. The only airport with commercial passenger service is the County’s California Redwood Coast– Humboldt County Airport (formerly the Arcata-Eureka Airport).1 AIRPORT PLANNING Airport Land Use Commission The perception that airports are just places for airplanes to take-off and land has long Every county in which a public-use airport is located is required been dismissed by aviation to establish an Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) (per system planners. Instead, California PUC, Sections 21670 et seq.) This Commission has airports should more the single purpose to protect airports and public safety by accurately be viewed as overseeing the compatibility of land uses adjacent to public-use economic enterprise hubs, airports. The ALUC is responsible for preventing the creation of employment centers, mixed- use commercial business new noise and safety problems in the vicinity of public-use centers, bulk cargo transfer airports in its jurisdiction. ALUCs are an advisory body to local centers, transit hubs, and planning jurisdictions. more. – California Aviation The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors is the county’s System Plan, 2011 designated ALUC. As the ALUC, the Board has authorized a nine-member Aviation Advisory Committee (AAC) to advise them on aviation matters within the county. The two planning bodies, the ALUC and the AAC, must evaluate potential conflicts such as noise, safety, airspace, and overflight. They do this in two primary ways: (i) by preparing Airport Land Use Compatibility Plans (ALUCPs); and (ii) by reviewing local agency general and specific plans for consistency with the ALUCP goals and objectives (per CPUC §21676(a)). The ALUC makes safety recommendations via consistency determinations. Airport Plans Airports must be operated consistently with the policies of the region-wide Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (ALUCP). California statute authorizes ALUCs to prepare the ALUCP, and and apply it when they review local government general plans and specific plans, including airport master plans. 1 The County of Humboldt has applied to the FAA to rename the airport. HCAOG 20-Year RTP–2017 Update/Public Draft 6-85 6. Aviation System Element VROOM... Variety in Rural Options of Mobility Public Draft–Aug/Sept 2017 Acting under its authority as the ALUC, the County Board of Supervisors adopted the Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan: Humboldt County Airports (last amended and adopted in 1998) (County of Humboldt, 1998). The Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (ALUCP) sets policies and criteria for assessing whether land uses between Humboldt’s public use airports and proposed development in surrounding areas are compatible. The compatibility criteria set standards for building heights, building construction, and restricted uses of land. The ALUCP’s compatibility criteria and review policies apply broadly to all airports in the County. Additionally, the plan has specific policies, compatibility maps, and background data for the five County-operated General Aviation airports plus Shelter Cove Airport. The ALUCP does not contain specific policies or compatibility zones for the Samoa Field Airport (formerly Eureka Municipal Airport) or the Hoopa Airport or, although has policies and criteria that regulate allowed uses and residential densities around the Hoopa Airport. Each of the County-owned airports, additionally, operates according to its respective Airport Master Plan. The current airport master plans are: • Arcata-Eureka Airport Master Plan Report, Public Review Draft. Accepted by the Board of Supervisors on September 9, 2005 “Incompatible land uses (County of Humboldt, 2005a). (This airport is being around airports are renamed the California Redwood Coast–Humboldt County considered the largest Airport.) imminent and continuous threat to • Dinsmore Airport Master Plan Report, Revised May 2007 California’s air (County of Humboldt, 2007a). transportation system • Garberville Airport Master Plan Report. Accepted by the Board of public-use airports.” of Supervisors on September 4, 2007 (County of Humboldt, – California Aviation 2007b). System Plan, 2016 • Kneeland Airport Master Plan Update. September 2005 (County of Humboldt, 2005b). • Murray Field Airport Master Plan Report. Accepted by the Board of Supervisors on September 4, 2007 (County of Humboldt, 2007c). • Rohnerville Airport Master Plan Report. Accepted by the Board of Supervisors on September 4, 2007 (County of Humboldt, 2007d). (Hoopa, Samoa Field, and Shelter Cove Airports do not currently have master plans.) HCAOG 20-Year RTP–2017 Update/Public Draft 6-86 6. Aviation System Element VROOM... Variety in Rural Options of Mobility Public Draft–Aug/Sept 2017 AIRPORT FACILITIES The FAA categorizes public airports as primary or nonprimary in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). Primary “Of the various ways to airports have scheduled air carrier service for 10,000 or more transport cargo, enplaned passengers per year; nonprimary airports have scheduled aircraft, with their passenger service for 2,500 to 9,999 enplaned passengers per year. speed and distance, are The nonprimary category also includes general aviation airports and especially efficient at transporting long-haul, reliever airports (FAA 2016a). The California Redwood Coast low-weight, high value, Airport is the only primary airport in Humboldt. The other eight time-sensitive goods.” are classified as general aviation (GA) airports, which do not have – California Aviation scheduled passenger service, typically have at least ten based aircraft, System Plan, 2011 and are 20 miles or farther away from the nearest NPIAS airport. General aviation airports serve air couriers, air ambulances, air charter, law enforcement, and private pilots. The Caltrans’s Division of Aeronautics applies its own Airport Functional Classification system. It further categorizes GA airports