officials from the city of San Diego, the Port of San Diego, San Diego County, the Metropolitan Transit System, the San Diego Association of Governments, the California Coastal Commission, the California State Lands Commission and the state Department of Transportation submitted stern – at times exasperated – letters opposing the airport’s approach.


The opposition could derail the project, and has revealed massive disagreement over the best way to improve the airport’s connection to transit and deal with its continued growth.

Coastal Commission staff noted its strong support of a direct transit connection to the airport, such as a people mover, which it said would go a long way toward easing inevitable traffic congestion. As a special condition, it is requiring the airport to identify the specific location it plans to set aside for a future on-airport transit station, to be generally located on the west side of the Terminal 1 parking structure.In the short term, the commission specified that it wants the Airport Authority to follow through on its commitment to provide free shuttle service between the Old Town Transit Center and the airport. The shuttle, including a plan for its hours and frequency of operation, should be implemented no later than Dec. 1, the commission said. Airport Authority CEO Kim Becker told commissioners that the all-electric shuttles, which are being financed with airport funds, will launch service Nov. 21, with two to four buses at first.

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Because of the violations, the commission imposed some additional requirements, including a provision that the airport install electric vehicle (EV) charging ports at 5 percent of new parking stalls and that it construct an additional 5 percent of parking stalls as EV-ready in the future.

The airport also has agreed to capture an additional 36 acres of stormwater from the development site, a move that will provide more water quality benefits than what would be normally required of such a development.