By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun

     SAN DIEGO — Opponents of building an international airport in the Back Country received more bad news Tuesday as one of the most promising alternative sites, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, was dropped from the military base closure list.
     The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission voted to spare the depot, which was at the center of base closure speculation earlier this year. This will remove MCRD from further consideration for closure.
     The vote on whether to add MCRD to the possible closure list failed 6-2; votes from seven of nine commission members are required to add a base to the list.
     The news follows the announcement earlier this month that airport authority officials voted to whittle the list down further to three possibilities: Boulevard/Campo, Imperial County desert and a second runway at Lindbergh Field. The Borrego Springs site was relegated to the back burner.
Authority officials would not specify exactly why the Borrego decision was made, however several officials have commented about the sheer distance of an airport in Borrego.
     In March, a majority of the advisory group members said they couldn't support a site that required 75 minutes or more to travel between the airport and San Diego. Authority consultants also estimated that at least 40 percent of air travelers in the county would not want an airport that far away, instead taking their business to John Wayne Airport, Los Angeles International or some other airfield.
     “That’s a long way out there,” said Ted Sexton, vice president of operations at the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, “It’s 65 miles. Who wants to drive that far out to go to the airport? Accessibility is key.”
     Five military sites remain on the list and are being held back from any study until the outcome of the BRAC process is completed in November. 
     However, with no local bases marked for closure, those options will likely disappear.
     “We don’t really know how this is going to affect the site selection process,” said authority President Thella Bowens about the BRAC commission vote. “Lots of people thought that the recruitment depot was going to be the best option for expansion of Lindbergh Field.”
     Despite the shortened list and the growing possibility that a multi-runway airport could be built in the Back Country, many San Diego officials don’t believe that Boulevard/Campo is even a remote possibility.
     “I think it’s ridiculous,” said District 2 Supervisor Dianne Jacob. “That it’s even on the list is silly and there is no way that they’re going to put an airport out there.”
     The airport site issue must go on the ballot in November 2006, but there is no certainty at this point about how a ballot question would be phrased. Following the end of the site selection process, the electorate could be left with one or more sites to vote on. 
     Airport authority officials are currently planning several town hall events for county residents to ask questions and offer comment.
     Among them will be a rural town hall to be co-hosted with the airport authority by The Alpine Sun. That meeting is expected to be scheduled some time in early November.

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