A proposed housing development across from the Central Coast airport that recently flew wealthy guests in and out for Super Bowl 60 was defeated in court last month due to the threat of noise. 

The project was small in scope, 21 units facing the Watsonville Municipal Airport, but in an unexpected turn, it was a big concern for some in the aviation community. 

The Watsonville Pilots Association, or WPA, filed a lawsuit against the city of Watsonville in 2021 after the city council approved the 21-unit Townhome Project. The WPA’s suit hinged on a technicality. The city owns the airport and per the State Aeronautics Act, it’s required to adopt land use guidelines for its general plan using a handbook published by Caltrans.

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However, due to a previous lawsuit from the pilots association two decades ago, the city’s general plan with the criteria needed for planning developments near the airport was ultimately tossed out. When time came for a new housing development, in a state contending with a shortage, the pilots association spotted a loophole and flew their suit right through it.

Downtown Watsonville, Calif., in 2023.

Judge Timothy Schmal agreed with the WPA in a Feb. 3 ruling, determining that the city violated state aviation safety law by rubber stamping the project using an inadequate general plan. The ruling also said that the city’s environmental review relied on a study that insufficiently analyzed noise impacts. 

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Airport noise affecting neighboring residential areas is an ongoing issue in California aviation. San Francisco International Airport has adapted landing procedures after Pacifica residents complained about the noise, and in Monterey, neighbors near the regional airport are turning to litigation to silence the airfield.

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Orry Korb, one of the WPA’s board members, told SFGATE that noise can reduce operations or even close an airport. “Noise is always an issue,” he said. “Residential development near airports is a conflict.”

He mentioned San Jose Mineta International Airport, which has had a noise-based curfew limiting operations since 2003. Nearby, Reid-Hillview Airport faces closure due to criticisms including noise. The proposed housing in Watsonville is located within the airport’s buffer zone, and Korb added that, along with safety, it’s “a matter of ensuring the residents and developments near the airport are not affected by the airport operations.”

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For over 30 years in Watsonville, the city has considered adding housing to the area around the airport. Following the 1989 earthquake, some locals proposed outright closing Watsonville Municipal Airport to build affordable housing. “This began decades of conflict for the Watsonville pilots and Airport supporters to protect [Watsonville Municipal Airport],” the WPA wrote.

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The city started revising its general plan in 2000 — for what it called the 2030 General Plan — and considered developing thousands of homes near the airport. The WPA repeatedly fought back, resulting in a superior court decision in 2008 that found that the city violated the state’s aviation law by not adopting safety and density criteria outlined in the Airport Land Use Planning Handbook. (Caltrans issues the handbook to provide “statewide standards for ensuring land use compatibility around airports.”)

The 2008 ruling invalidated the city’s proposed general plan and limited it to the outdated 2005 General Plan, creating a gap for how the city of Watsonville can legally plan developments around the airport. (Subsequent attempts to update the 2030 General Plan were also tossed out by a judge in 2010 and 2014.)

When the city council approved the 21-unit Townhome Project in 2021, without adopting a revised general plan with the guidance in the handbook, city staff also said its environmental impact review was permissible since it had conducted its own independent analysis. 

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The city argued that a 2018 noise study proved that exterior and interior noise levels were lower than what the handbook recommends. Judge Schmal ruled that since the city did not incorporate the handbook into its general plan, it had “no discretion” to use its own analysis.

The court ordered the city to halt the townhouse project and pause approving other developments near the airport until it has adopted state airport compatibility standards into its general plan. “The essence of it was: You failed to follow precedent and amend your general plan,” said Korb. “The city acknowledged that it was stuck until it could amend the general plan.”

The city of Watsonville is currently updating its planning guidelines around land use near the airport and expects to present a draft for its General Plan 2050 for public review later this year.

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Douglas Rice, regional vice president of the California Pilots Association, told SFGATE in an emailed statement that the court’s decision “will resonate at airports throughout the state which continue to ignore compliance with state safety standards.”

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