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Continued from March 26, 2013; Receive a report on, and consider whether to direct staff to initiate a process for preparing a proposed amendment to the Solano County Code, Chapter 2, regarding the composition of the Airport Land Use Commission's membership, and direct the County Administrator to initiate the process
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Published Notice Required? Yes _____ No __X__
Public Hearing Required? Yes _____ No __X__
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Resource Management recommends that the Board of Supervisors:
1. Receive a report on, and consider whether to direct staff to initiate a process for preparing a proposed amendment to the Solano County Code, Chapter 2, regarding the composition of the Airport Land Use Commission's membership, and
2. Provide direction to the County Administrator on whether or not to initiate a process to amend the County Code.
SUMMARY:
On January 15, 2013, the Board of Supervisors directed staff to return at a future date to discuss options for modifying the criteria for appointments made to the Airport Land Use Commission.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Support for the Airport Land Use Commission and its activities are a General Fund cost, borne by the Department of Resource Management, Planning Services Division, as a Net County Cost.
DISCUSSION:
Introduction: The Solano County Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) operates pursuant to the State Aeronautics Act (Public Utilities Code §21001 et seq.). Since 1967, the State Aeronautics Act has required counties with public airports to establish an airport land use commission to:
"protect public health, safety, and welfare by ensuring the orderly expansion of airports and the adoption of land use measures that minimize the public's exposure to excessive noise and safety hazards within areas around public airports to the extent that these areas are not already devoted to incompatible uses." - Public Utilities Code §21670, subdivision (a)(2)
An airport land use commission's powers and duties include: (a) to assist local agencies in ensuring compatible land uses in the vicinity of all new airports and in the vicinity of existing airports to the extent that the land in the vicinity of those airports is not already devoted to incompatible uses; (b) to coordinate planning at the state, regional, and local levels so as to provide for the orderly development of air transportation, while at the same time protecting the public health, safety, and welfare; (c) to prepare and adopt airport land use compatibility plans for public and military airports; and (d) to review the plans, regulations, and other actions of local agencies and airport operators (Public Utilities Code § 21674).
Generally the State Aeronautics Act enables counties to establish an ALUC in one of two ways:
1. Create a Stand-Alone ALUC: The Act permits counties to create a new stand-alone airport land use commission with the following composition of members (Public Utilities Code § 21670, subdivision. (b)):
(1) Two representing the cities in the county, appointed by a city selection committee comprised of the mayors of all the cities within that county, except that if there are any cities contiguous or adjacent to the qualifying airport, at least one representative shall be appointed therefrom. If there are no cities within a county, the number of representatives provided for by paragraphs (2) and (3) shall each be increased by one.
(2) Two representing the county, appointed by the board of supervisors.
(3) Two having expertise in aviation, appointed by a selection committee comprised of the managers of all of the public airports within that county.
(4) One representing the general public, appointed by the other six members of the commission
2. Designate an Existing Body as an ALUC: If the board of supervisors and the city selection committee of mayors in the county each makes a determination by a majority vote that proper land use planning can be accomplished through the actions of an appropriately designated body, then the body so designated shall assume the planning responsibilities of an airport land use commission as provided for in the Act, and a commission need not be formed in that county.
The Act further provides that a designated body must have at least two members with expertise in aviation (Public Utilities Code § 21670.1, subdivision (a)&(b)).
In Solano County, the Aviation Advisory Committee (AAC) was designated to perform the duties of an ALUC (Solano County Code § 2-245, subdivision (b)).
History: On October 14, 1969, the Solano County Board of Supervisors established the AAC, consisting of five members appointed by the Board, which was responsible for making recommendations to the Board and Planning Commission concerning various matters concerning Solano County airports.
In 1971, the Board adopted Ordinance No. 781, which increased the membership of the AAC to nine members. Five County members were to be appointed by the Board. Four City members - one each from the cities of Fairfield, Vacaville, Rio Vista, and Vallejo - were to be appointed by a selection committee of mayors of the county. The Ordinance also designated the AAC to perform the duties of an airport land use commission pursuant to state law.
On December 9, 2003, the Board of Supervisors reviewed an Operational and Management Audit of the Nut Tree Airport prepared by Aviation Management Consulting Group. One of the recommendations of this audit was that the AAC and the ALUC be split, with separate membership/representation, duties, roles, and responsibilities.
During discussion of this item, the Board agreed that the AAC and ALUC should be separated, and that the ALUC should continue as a stand-alone body with its then current membership. On February 19, 2004, the AAC discussed the issue and made a number of recommendations concerning separation of the groups and what the role and membership of the new AAC for the Nut Tree Airport should be. They recommended to the Board that the new AAC be renamed the Nut Tree Airport Advisory Committee and that the membership be replaced with a newly formed committee comprised of airport stakeholders.
The AAC also agreed that the ALUC should continue as a separate and independent body, with its membership/representation continuing as then constituted.
On June 22, 2004, the Board of Supervisors created the Nut Tree Airport Advisory Committee by motion and unanimous vote.
The Mayor's City Selection Committee was then asked to consider and approve the determination of the Board of Supervisors and the AAC that representation on the ALUC remain unchanged. The Committee was informed that, under the provisions of Public Utilities Code sections 21670 and 21670.1, the Committee could propose a different membership structure.
The committee discussed the issue twice, and on September 15, 2004, after receiving input from their City Managers and City Planning Directors, voted to recommend to the Board of Supervisors that:
1. The current membership structure of the ALUC remain as it is, except that
2. The ALUC seat then held by a resident from Vallejo be reassigned to a resident from Suisun City, and with the added provision that
3. The current resident from Vallejo be allowed to remain in that seat until his term expired.
One additional issue discussed by the City Selection Committee was whether or not the City representatives should be required to actually live within the City limits of the cities they represent. However, the City Selection Committee ultimately did not recommend that additional amendment to the ordinance.
Ultimately, the Board of Supervisors chose to make no changes in the membership composition.
In December 2007, the Mayor's Selection Committee asked the Board to amend the provisions for appointments to the ALUC and replace the City of Vallejo with the City of Suisun City. This proposed amendment was brought before the Board of Supervisors on January 22, 2008. After consideration, the Board decided to leave the current composition of the Commission in place, with city representatives from Fairfield, Rio Vista, Vacaville and Vallejo.
Process for Amending the ALUC Rules Regarding Membership: Ultimately, a change to the ALUC's composition would require an amendment to County Code, Chapter 2, Article III, Division 3. In addition, as can be seen from the ALUC's statutory requirements and history, the responsibility for setting the composition of the Commission rests with both the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor's Selection Committee. The purpose of this staff report is to respond to the Board-initiated direction that staff return to the Board with a discussion of options for modifying the membership criteria. If the Board were to desire to revisit the criteria for composition of the ALUC, a process would then need to be initiated that included the ALUC members as well as the City Selection Committee. Staff asks the Board to provide direction on whether or not any process to revisit the criteria for composition of the ALUC should be undertaken.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board of Supervisors could choose to not direct staff whether to initiate a process to revisit the composition of the ALUC
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
No other agencies have been consulted.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION