Carlsbad this week rejected San Diego County’s purchase of property near the edge of McClellan-Palomar Airport, setting the stage for another legal battle over the county’s long-term plan to extend the runway.

County officials asked the City Council to retroactively approve the acquisition of 3 acres of private property on Dryden Place, the site of a 30,000-square-foot office building in what’s considered the airport’s “runway protection zone.”

San Diego County owns and operates the airport along Palomar Airport Road west of El Camino Real.

The county completed the Dryden Place purchase Nov. 27 without the necessary city approvals, which include a finding by the Carlsbad City Council that the acquisition complied with the city’s General Plan, according to a city staff report.


Also, the purchase appears to violate a settlement reached earlier this year of a lawsuit the city had filed against the county. The city disputed the county’s approval of an update of the airport master plan, and the settlement stated that the county would negotiate or consult with the city over any proposed changes at the airport.

“Clearly, the settlement agreement was not followed,” said Hope Nelson of the nonprofit Citizens for a Friendly Airport at the City Council’s meeting Tuesday.

It seems like “the county is bullying the city into submission,” Nelson said, and, “In our estimation, the city is playing with a bad actor.”

City staffers said that while the purchase is an expansion of the airport, it conforms to the city’s General Plan and should be approved retroactively. However, a motion for approval failed on a 2-2 vote, with council members Priya Bhat-Patel and Cori Schumacher opposed.


“I don’t see any advantage to a ‘yes’,” Schumacher said. “I don’t acknowledge that was a legal acquisition.”

The council agreed to schedule a future closed-session meeting to discuss possible legal action as a result of the purchase.

The citizens group opposes any extension of the runway or expansion of the airport. The updated master plan approved by the county outlines a number of possible improvements, including an extension of the only runway by as much as 800 feet over the 20-year life of the plan.

County officials have said the proposed construction would not expand the airport, but would make it safer and more accommodating for the newer, larger aircraft that already use it.


The county had attempted to purchase the Dryden Place property as part of the runway protection zone since the late 1990s, but was unable in part because of a legal dispute over the value.

At present the office building is only partially occupied, and the county has indicated the lease will not be renewed when it expires. County officials said the building will not be demolished and that it will be used for purposes, such as storage, that expose fewer people to the hazards of overhead flights.

The property is beneath the flight path at the western end of the airport. Two adjacent lots are used by car dealers to temporarily store new vehicles.

“The county’s acquisition of the property is intended to increase public safety and to ensure that future uses of the property are consistent with airport uses,” states a Nov. 15 letter to the city from county Director of Public Works Brian Albright.


“The county as a superior agency does not require the city’s finding of consistency ... in order to proceed with the acquisition,” the letter states.

Carlsbad has no control over development at the airport, other than to approve the zoning for the property there. Air operations are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration.