The Airport Committee, at their September 24, 2012, meeting, directed Airports staff to schedule the use of the Mariposa Community Benefits Fund for the full Board of Supervisor’s consideration.
On December 4, 2012, the Board of Supervisors authorized the Department of Conservation and Development (DCD) to undertake a General Plan Amendment (GPA) study for the Byron Airport. The Board also authorized use of a portion of the Mariposa Energy Project Community Benefits Fund to perform the GPA study.
The Byron Airport Master Plan, adopted in 2005, identified a diversity of aviation and airport-related land uses for the long-term build-out of the airport. To fully implement the Airport Master Plan, it is necessary to adopt a GPA to allow for the range of contemplated land uses. The GPA requires an environmental analysis pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The GPA process is being overseen by DCD staff in collaboration with Airports Division staff.
On April 8, 2015, DCD staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Byron Airport Development Program and CEQA Analysis. Prospective consultants had until May 8, 2015, to respond. Only two proposals were received.
On July, 1, 2015, the Airport Committee had a general discussion of the environmental process, RFP responses received, project cost, and anticipated project schedule.
On August 18, 2015, the Board of Supervisors approved a $180,545 contract between Contra Costa County and Dudek, Inc. to prepare a development scenario for the airport and the environmental impact report (EIR) for the GPA.
On April 27, 2016, the Airport Committee had a general discussion regarding the project and the progress of the environmental review. Staff and Committee members expressed dissatisfaction with the progress to date.
In the weeks following the April 2016 meeting, staff of DCD and Airports and the consultant, had several email exchanges and phone calls to determine why the environmental review was not proceeding as originally anticipated. The consultant indicated they had difficulty formulating an acceptable project description, which forms the basis for the environmental review, because:
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The Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (ALUCP) predates the 2005 Byron Airport Master Plan and does not accurately reflect proposed aviation activities and proposed non-aviation development.
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The ALUCP policies for Byron Airport are overly restrictive compared to those for Buchanan Airport and relative to current guidance per the California Airport Land Use Planning Handbook published by Caltrans.
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While ALUCPs generally do not apply to airports themselves, the 2005 Master Plan specifically states that the policies and regulations of the ALUCP are applicable to the airport property, thereby artificially limiting what can occur on Airport property.
Staff and the consultant determined that the best course of action would be to expand the scope of the current environmental review to include updating the portions of the ALUCP pertaining to Byron Airport. While this would extend the project timeline and increase cost, the final product would be a General Plan, zoning, ALUCP, and Master Plan for Byron Airport that were consistent and compatible.
On July 20, 2016, the Airport Committee reviewed the revised scope of work and directed staff to prepare a contract amendment for approval by the Board of Supervisors.
On March 8, 2017, the consultant presented the Airport Committee with updated development scenarios for Byron Airport. In the months following the Airport Committee meeting, DCD and Airports staff had additional meetings regarding the ALUCP update and the project’s interplay with the East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservation Plan. This led to further refinements of the project description.
With the project description seemingly finalized, on September 20, 2017, DCD issued the Notice of Preparation (NOP), which is the first formal step in the EIR process. The NOP portion of the process provides an opportunity for public agencies and the general public to comment on the scope of the environmental analysis to be included in the draft EIR (DEIR). The NOP portion of the process was completed in October 2017.
In September 2017, Airports staff began discussions with Caltrans regarding the airport classification (rural versus suburban) applied to Byron Airport. This classification affects the allowable intensity of aviation and airport-related development, which could negatively impact the airport’s long-term economic viability. Classifying Byron as a suburban airport would be more consistent with the Federal Aviation Administration’s designation of it as a reliever airport and with the long-term build out as detailed in its Master Plan. However, Byron Airport is surrounded by land outside the Urban Limit Line, which gives the perception that the airport should be classified as rural.
Dudek’s work on the DEIR slowed significantly while the airport classification issue was being resolved because the project’s impacts in certain environmental topic areas (e.g., Traffic, Air Quality, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Noise, Energy) cannot be determined if the intensity of the development is unknown.
In January 2018, Airports staff received a letter of interest from Mark Scott Construction, Inc., to develop and lease a light industrial project on the 36.3 acres located generally northeast of the main runway that are designated for airport-related development.
In March 2018, Dudek indicated that the administrative draft EIR (ADEIR) would be submitted for County staff’s review in June or July, and that completion of the Transportation section was delaying the submittal. Throughout 2018 the project was delayed by Dudek’s traffic subconsultant’s inability to complete the traffic impact analysis (TIA) that forms the basis for the DEIR Transportation section.
In May 2018, Dudek presented the draft ALUCP update materials to the Airport Land Use Commission. Following this meeting, the project description was again refined.
In August 2018, the Mark Scott proposal was expanded to potentially include an 11.67-acre private parcel located on Armstrong Road between airport property and the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District Canal. Because this private property was not part of the original EIR scope, it was necessary to perform additional environmental studies and revise several sections of the ADEIR (e.g., Aesthetics, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Hazardous Materials). The expansion also pushed the overall project over the threshold for requiring a water supply assessment (WSA) pursuant to Senate Bill 610. Ultimately these revisions to the ADEIR and preparation of the WSA have caused little-to-no delay because of the ongoing delay related to the traffic analysis.
On November 6, 2018, Dudek submitted the TIA for staff’s review. The analysis assumed a substantial portion of the future development might be commercial, which inflated the projected trip generation to an unrealistic level. The proposed mitigation measures, which included installation of traffic signals at several local intersections and construction of new turn pockets and lanes, were impractical and cost prohibitive.
On December 13, 2018, Airports staff met with Dudek to again revise the project description so that a new, more realistic TIA could be prepared.
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