Justine Murray, Office of Councilmember Barbara Bry, District 1, Community Representative for Torrey Pines, attended the July 20 Miramar Community Leaders Forum on behalf of District 1, University City and Diane Ahern of UCCA. What follows is her summary of that meeting.
Colonel Jason Woodworth, MCAS Miramar Commanding Officer, gave a very casual and informative presentation, and focused on community concerns and how MCAS Miramar can improve their relationship with the community as a whole. His main focus is to keep communication open with the public and work cohesively in the community. He did say that overall, the majority of the community is pleased with the work and communication of MCAS Miramar at this time.
He spoke about the new Joint Strike Force (JSF) aircraft (F-35s) coming to MCAS Miramar in 2020, and detailed the level of noise emitted by these aircraft.
He did mention though, that residents who are located near the end of the runway, at the start of takeoff for aircraft, will usually be displeased with aircraft noise in comparison to any resident of other communities, due to their specified location of residence in respect to MCAS Miramar.
In regards to the actual noise these new planes will produce, the Colonel explained that the noise gradients will be similar to the existing F18 aircraft, and the noise produced will be virtually the same.
Miramar is expected to have guest JFS F-35 aircraft on base and in the air during the last two weeks of August.
A resident from Torrey Hills asked about the flight patterns of the helicopters. He asked the Colonel if the helicopters could fly further south and miss the Torrey Hills area altogether. Colonel Woodworth did explain that the routes they fly are designed to avoid as much population as possible, which is difficult in San Diego due to how dense and concentrated our population and residential communities are. The helicopters either fly what they call a “beach route” or a “fairway route”, which are chosen based on current weather conditions. He did note that the sound omitted by these aircraft is actually louder when there are clouds in the sky, which I found to be quite interesting. Thus, the weather does affect the sound of noise produced by MCAS Miramar aircraft in the community.
He also discussed the Natural Gas Line, which will be either constructed in Poway or through MCAS Miramar by SDG&E, but the company has yet to decide which route they will take.
One of the topics that Colonel Woodworth spoke about in his presentation was the significance of having MCAS Miramar and such a large base in its current location. Pilots are able to fly to various needed destinations in only 20 minutes, whether it is to Yuma or other bases in California, etc. Through having the base here, it adds to the overall growth of SD economy and is also the best viable training option for Marines.
University City did have on record the most calls to the base regarding noise complaints by far in comparison to all other communities, but that is not surprising considering how close University City is to the base and the flight pattern take off.
I’m glad I was able to attend and represent your community at the meeting and provide UC with information from the Colonel.
Footnote: UCCA thanks Justine Murray for representing University City and Council District 1 at the July 20 Community Leaders Forum meeting aboard MCAS Miramar. For more information, you may contact her through the Office of Councilmember Barbara Bry, District 1, JRMurray@sandiego.gov, 619-236-6611.
For related posts, visit https://www.universitycitynews.org/category/district-1/
