Future Use of Fresh and Easy Store and Airport and Airplane Noise

Photos by Meredith Houlton

Notes from the Peninsula Community Planning Board Meeting of January 21, 2016 Agenda:

Point Loma Grocery Store on Catalina and Canon

As long as I have been a resident of the Pt. Loma area (1966), there has always been a grocery store on the corner of Catalina and Canon. True, it has changed hands many times, but the convenience of having a store there has always been appreciated.

Fresh and Easy was the last store in this location, and even though this particular store did well, the others in the chain did not and the company has filed bankruptcy. Much to the chagrin of the neighbors in the area, “CVS” has announced that they are going to buy the market out of bankruptcy and put one of their drug stores in that site. And that announcement was the reason I attended, along with a STANDING ROOM ONLY group, the meeting this evening.

Mike Ryan, a neighbor that is opposed to CVS has done a marvelous job of keeping the community informed as to what is happening with this proposal. For one thing, almost 3000 people have signed a petition letting CVS know that they are not wanted in this location.

There is already a drug store next door to the existing building, and the community does not need a second drug store. We are afraid that the small existing drug store will be taken over by this conglomerate.

What this community needs is a grocery store. The nearest one to us is almost two miles away and almost impossible to walk to because of the hilly terrain. It is impractical to think that one could ride their bike, or walk to the store, and then carry groceries the two miles to their home.

The current landlord has gone on record saying that he wants a grocery store in that location; he does not want CVS. Yet, because this is being handled by the bankruptcy court, it appears that the landlord does not have a say as to who can purchase the remaining lease on the property. From what was said this evening it appears that he – the landlord – has talked about “buying” the lease himself.

The Planning Board, in a unanimous decision, voted to support the grocery store concept, and to state that CVS is not needed nor wanted at this particular site. There was applause from the audience, because when asked if there was anyone in the crowd that was in favor of CVS no one raised their hand.

Airport and Airplane Noise

Once again the airport and the noise being generated from airplanes that are turning closer to Point Loma than before was up for discussion.

Paul Webb, a member of the Planning Board made his presentation. But before I give a summary of that, I want to point out that Mr. Webb is a retired employee of the airport. It is my opinion that he is biased in his reporting and we did not receive the entire truth of what is going on with the new plans. With that in mind, here are some of the things he said:

There have been an increase of noise complaints from August – 18 – to December – 1578.

For those of you not living in the flight pattern let me be more specific. When a low-flying aircraft goes overhead; is noisy; sounds like it is having trouble, etc. there is an Airport Noise Complaint number that we can call. (619-400-2799). Mind you, it does not have to be only over Ocean Beach/Pt. Loma. It can be anywhere where the decibels are above the norm.

Mr. Webb stated that in 2015 there were 15,919 operations, where only 1032 flights flew south of Adair. This was questioned by one of the members of the audience, many of which stayed for the discussion after the CVS resolution.

The question was raised as to where the tracking devices are placed to determine if the noise is above the acceptable level. It turns out that there are only two – both portable. One is at the Nazarene College; the other is at Adair and Sunset Cliffs. That’s all well and good, but hardly enough for all the airplanes veering south of Newport Avenue.

Mr. Webb stated that he hears more noise from North Island than he does from Lindbergh Field. I find that hard to believe since he lives right under the flight pattern of Lindbergh. He also said that the airport no longer reports “head-head” landings because there are so few of them. It was pointed out that it is a safety measure and we should know how many there are on a daily basis.

A gentleman in the audience asked if it was possible to have a 360 degree map showing all of the noise monitors; and the infractions of the airplane. Mr. Webb said it was being looked into.

Nothing has changed since 1965; the airport is still extremely dangerous to those living in the area.

In fact, just today I reported an airplane that was so loud and low that my dog jumped up from where he was sitting and tried to hide in the closet. I later found out that the plane I reported was a “missed approach”. Southwest Airline was trying to land and the tower sent a United flight up in its path. The Southwest plane had to rise rapidly to clear the Point. People tried to say that it was a military flight emanating from North Island. Apparently that was not the case at all.

There was nothing settled at this meeting; it was merely a report of a previous meeting that Mr. Webb attended. But I urge the residents of Ocean Beach and Point Loma to start attending some of these meetings. Without hearing the public voices, the airport commission will just continue doing what they have been doing for years.