RPD 2303 - Applying Smart Growth Principles and Strategies to Resolving Land Use Conflicts Around Airports

Research Project Description

Applying Smart Growth Principles and Strategies to Resolving Land Use Conflicts Around Airports

Project Number: 2303

Principal Investigator:
Principal Investigator: Richard Lee, Ph.D., Mineta RA, Urban and Transportation Planning Consultant

Institution:
Mineta Transportation Institute

Telephone Number:
(408) 924-7560

Email Address: mti@mti.sjsu.edu

Project Objective:

The proposed research will identify and document the extent to which the principles of smart growth have been applied to airport system planning in the State of California, either explicitly or by implication from the land use planning strategies adopted, and explore the effectiveness of existing airport land use compatibility planning procedures in California from the perspective of smart growth policies.

The research will address the potential role of smart growth principles to enhance airport land use compatibility planning and the implementation of regional airport development strategies, as well as how the existing airport compatible land use planning process can be strengthened in order to better achieve compatible land uses near airports. While the goals of smart growth policies and airport land use compatibility planning are commonly seen as very different issues, there are at least three reasons to consider how they can be better linked:

To explore how land use planning strategies that are being pursued to respond to smart growth policies can be adapted to meet airport land use compatibility goals;
To identify ways in which smart growth policies might adversely affect airport land use compatibility planning; and
To understand how longer-term airport development strategies, such as expanding or constructing airports on the perimeter of an urban region or encouraging associated commercial development on adjacent land, could come into conflict with smart growth policies.

Aircraft operations are expected to recover from their drop in September 2001, reaching a national level in 2014 that will be 25 percent higher than in 2000. This growth requires development of facilities and will induce development in airport vicinities. Such development often causes tension between airports and surrounding communities as a result of incompatible land uses or the impact of airport-generated vehicle trips on the street and highway system in the vicinity of the airport.

In many large metropolitan areas, these concerns impose significant constraints on the ability to continue to expand the existing commercial airports (Airports International, 2002), and renewed consideration will have to be given to developing new airports on greenfield sites, or providing commercial service at former military airfields or general aviation airports (Caves & Gosling, 1999). Since feasible sites are likely to be in relatively undeveloped areas some distance from existing urban development, such a strategy is likely to have important implications for land use planning in the vicinity of the new airports and significant impacts on urban growth patterns.

Thus the alternative development strategies that could be pursued as part of the regional airport system planning process will need to balance the trade-offs between continued expansion of existing airports on constrained sites surrounded by established residential communities on the one hand and development of new airports that will tend to stimulate growth in less developed parts of the region on the other. To date there has been relatively little effort to understand the nature of these trade-offs in the context of the principles of smart growth and associated regional development policies.

Abstract:

The first stage of the research will include a literature search and a series of focused interviews to explore current efforts, existing gaps, and incentives, and to identify which airports could benefit the most from a “smart growth” approach. The team will then conducts case studies of airports chosen to reflect a range of size, function, and geographical location and planning opportunities. At least six general aviation airports, three medium-sized commercial airports and one major international airport will be studied. The case studies will address three aspects of land use planning in airport environs:

Noise impacts,
Surface vehicle traffic generated by the airport and surrounding land uses, and
Economic development considerations.

The effectiveness of land use planning strategies will be addressed in two ways. The first is the subjective assessment of the planners and policy-makers involved in the process, identified through the case study interviews. However, this will be supplemented by objective measures of changes in the extent of incompatible land use adjacent to each airport over time, as well as changes in land use zoning classification or other development restrictions.

Description and Project dates:

Task One:

Literature review: Review literature in the areas of airport planning and smart growth to identify relevant material to the application of smart growth principles to airport land use planning, including existing legislative requirements and planning guidelines for airport land use planning. Prepare an annotated bibliography and summary of the literature. February – April 2004

Task Two:
Conduct Interviews: Conduct focused interviews with planning staff at Caltrans Division of Aeronautics, consultants involved in airport land use planning, and planning staff from selected airport authorities and regional planning agencies. Explore the extent to which smart growth principles have been applied in airport land use planning and identify those ALUCs that have been successful in achieving or maintaining compatible land uses near airports in their jurisdiction. March – April 2004

Task Three:
Identify Case Study Airports: Based on the information gathered in the course of the interviews in Task 2, develop a preliminary list of potential case study airports. Discuss research objectives with airport and local agency staff at each airport and identify availability of information and willingness to participate in the case study. Select final list of case study airports in conjunction with Caltrans Division of Aeronautics staff. April 2004

Task Four:
Prepare Interim Report: Prepare a draft interim report summarizing the findings of the literature review in Task 1, discussing the information gathered in the course of the interviews in Task 2 and the issues to be addressed by the case study analysis, and documenting the proposed list of case study airports identified in Task 3 and the planned methodology to be followed for the case study analysis. Distribute copies of the draft interim report to the project review committee for review, and revise to address review comments. May 2004

Task Five:
Field Visits: Perform field visits to each case study airport within selected regions. Meet with planning staff from the airport authority, ALUC, and local land use planning jurisdictions and discuss key local issues and history of land use planning near the airport. Obtain copies of relevant airport land use planning studies, records of ALUC actions, General and Regional Plans, and plans showing changes in land use over time. June – August 2004

Task Six:

Document Case Studies: Assemble the information gathered from the course of the field visits and through subsequent communications. Document the experience at each airport, including the strategies followed by the ALUCs and the resulting changes in land use around the airport. Assess the effectiveness of the airport land use planning activities from the perspective of both achieving compatible land uses adjacent to the airports and smart growth principles. July – September 2004

Task Seven:
Final Report: Prepare a final report documenting the findings and conclusions of the case studies and the implications for future airport land use planning activities. Identify the different strategies that have been pursued in different regions and examine their effectiveness at achieving compatible land use near the airports and their potential consistency with policies to support smart growth. October – November 2004

Following submission of the draft final report, the following actions will occur:
Copyedit and preparation of Peer Review Draft
Peer Review and Author’s Response
Final Editing and Pre-Publication
Printer’s Blue line Proof and Final Print
The estimated time for these to occur will be no less than two months. Final publication and Web posting: January 2005

Total Budget:
Yearly: $62,993

Principal Investigator:

Richard Lee, Ph.D., Mineta RA, Urban and Transportation Planning Consultant

Team Members:

Geoffrey D. Gosling, Ph.D., Mineta RA, Aviation System Planning Consultant

Earl Bossard, Ph.D., Mineta RA, Professor, Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning, San

José State University

Student: Katja Irvin, SJSU Graduate Student, Urban and Regional Planning

Technology Transfer Activities:
Upon publication, pdf and html versions will be available on the Mineta Transportation Institute web site. The project experience and data will be available for community meetings. Authors are encouraged to submit articles based on the research to relevant journals and to present the information to end-users at conferences,

Potential Benefits of the Project:

The anticipated results of the research would have immediate application to two different professional communities. First, they would enable airport planners to better understand how regional airport system planning activities can be related to broader strategies to achieve smart growth in a region, and would enable airport compatible land use planning efforts to be placed in a larger context of regional efforts to apply smart growth concepts to regional land use planning. Second, they would be of use to land use planners in communities near airports and county Airport Land Use Commissions to assist in defining policies directed at achieving compatible land uses in the airport environs that coordinate these efforts with broader efforts to support smart growth at a regional level.

The case study analysis of the effectiveness of different compatible land use planning strategies at different airports is anticipated to not only be of interest to Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) staff as they consider different measures and issues at airports within their own jurisdiction, but will also be of value to the California Department of Transportation and others involved in the professional development of local planners and elected officials involved in ALUC activities. A better understanding of how local circumstances influence the effectiveness of different approaches to achieve compatible land use around airports could also be of use in formulating legislative actions aimed at strengthening the airport land use planning and airport development process.

The research findings may also suggest the need for legislative changes to strengthen the role and effectiveness of ALUCs in land use planning in the State, and identify potential enhancements to future editions of the Caltrans Airport Land Use Compatibility Handbook.

Key Words:

Airport planning, Land use, Vehicles, Zoning