Coronado Unhappy With Proposed DOD Study Linked to Navy Air Report

Reported and written by contributor Gloria Tierney.

The City Council said no to a proposed Department of Defense Joint Land Use Study Tuesday in a 3-1 vote, with  Councilman Michael Woiwode abstaining. 

The stated purpose of the study, according to a city staff report, is to “reduce impacts on the surrounding community and the community’s capacity to revise or update its plans to be more responsive to the military’s mission.” 

It would also be used to “implement the (Air Installations Compatible Use Zones) recommendations.” That's a key caveat, because the city has objected to that report, released by the Navy, arguing that it would limit officials' ability to govern their own land-use decisions.

The study would involve all communities within Navy Region Southwest, including Coronado, National City, Imperial Beach and Point Loma, in San Diego. A likely candidate to head the study is the San Diego Association of Governments, better known as SANDAG. 

The agency will take up the matter at a committee meeting Friday. 

Woiwode said he didn’t have enough information to oppose the study. He suggested that the council “take no position at this point and keep listening,”  
which brought a strong protest from Mayor Casey Tanaka and Councilman Al Ovrom.

Both suggested that the proposed study was an effort to get the city to rezone its land to comply with the Navy’s AICUZ report, which one city official estimated last year could leave 1,000 city parcels out of compliance with zoning laws. More than 90 residents turned out for a Navy meeting about the issue last year.

“The Navy has no business telling us how to use land,” Tanaka said.