Santa Maria Public Airport officials will be taking the next few weeks to regroup and address questions raised during a public hearing to review the airport's plans for a business park and golf course south of the airfield.

Airport officials went before the Santa Maria Planning Commission Thursday night seeking support for a general plan amendment and zoning changes for the Santa Maria Airport Business Park Specific Plan and the accompanying environmental document.

The commission must make a recommendation to the City Council, which will make the final decision on the plan.

Though the majority of the commissioners said they are in favor of the project, some lingering questions about the project phasing, and the closure of the Airport Mobile Home Park, caused the commission to continue the discussion to its Aug. 1 meeting.

Commission chairwoman Etta Waterfield was absent.

“I was disappointed,” said Carl Engel, president of the airport board of directors, on Friday. “However, we are going to regroup and come back and address the issues that the Planning Commission felt were important.”

Much of the discussion revolved around the plight of residents at the mobile home park, which must be removed by the project's final build out.

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The 94-unit mobile home park is located on about 10 acres on South Blosser Road. According to the business park plan, the site will be used for light industrial building, and as many as 320 people are expected to be displaced.

Residents of the park have joined together to form an association as a way to gain a political voice, and over the last year they have been attending airport board meetings and various planning meetings regarding the business park project.

Residents told the commission they are looking for solid answers about what will happen to them, since they have been given different time frames for park closure as the plan has moved through the review process. They have been told development on the park site is anywhere from eight to 18 years away.

Commissioners Tom Lopez and Rodger Brown appeared to agree with residents, and noted they would favor recommending to the council that some sort of partnership between the city, the airport, and residents to try to find a solution.

“(The plan is) specific to roads but you can't give any direction to when the mobile home park will be relocated,” Lopez said. “As specific as this plan is, that needs to be taken into consideration.”

Brown suggested that a blue ribbon committee be formed, with members including residents, airport officials and city leaders, to study a relocation effort.

Plans to develop a business park at the airport have been in the works for more than a decade, but have been held up because some of the proposed project would be built on land that is home to the federally protected California tiger salamander.

The project's draft environmental impact report includes mitigation measures to protect the salamander along with other species that are found in similar habitats.

Taking into account the sensitive habitat, the plan has been scaled back to 740 acres from its original proposal of 1,095 acres.

The plan includes 16.3 acres of commercial and professional buildings, 132 acres of light manufacturing, 262.3 acres of recreational open space, and 105 acres of conservation open space.

According to the environmental report, the project will provide 3 million square feet of industrial development and could provide as many as 6,400 jobs when fully built.

“This is not just an airport thing, this is a regional type thing,” Engel said of the projects job creation potential. “I have been carrying the torch because I think this is best for this region and this valley.”

Bob Hatch, Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, spoke in favor of the project, calling it “crucial” to the valley's economic development.

“It is more important now, in my opinion, and in the chamber's opinion, than it has ever been for the economic health and vitality of this region,” he said.

Development of the airport business park has been seen as a potential source for higher-paying jobs.

With the importance of luring higher paying jobs to the area, Commissioner Adrian Andrade questioned the proposed phasing of the project, which sees the golf course in early construction and the bulk of the buildings later.

Each of the three phases is estimated to take about eight years.

Airport officials responded that they will supply more details on how the phasing plan was created.

Malia Spencer can be reached at 739-2219 or mspencer@santamariatimes.com.

July 8, 2007