Nobody is happy when something annoying moves into their
neighborhood, even if it’s just a couple that plays their stereo
too loudly. San Martin residents are rightfully upset that the
county Board of Supervisors ignored their pleas and pushed forward
with a consultant’s plan to increase air traffic at the South
County Airport. The drone of aircraft already can stop outdoor
conversations on warm summer days.
Nobody is happy when something annoying moves into their neighborhood, even if it’s just a couple that plays their stereo too loudly. San Martin residents are rightfully upset that the county Board of Supervisors ignored their pleas and pushed forward with a consultant’s plan to increase air traffic at the South County Airport. The drone of aircraft already can stop outdoor conversations on warm summer days.
The writing was on the wall. The unincorporated community seems to have little clout with urban board members who apparently see the wide-open spaces of the South Valley countryside as a place to put what they dare not in their own neighborhoods. Earlier this month airport commissioners refused to muster a quorum necessary to hear last-minute appeals from the neighborhood alliance led by Sylvia Hamilton. It frustrated citizens who still believe that board members don’t make up their minds until the last person testifies.
There are other issues about the airport still to fight, and Hamilton vows to continue her work. Most important is the runway length. Currently the 3,100-foot strip of asphalt accommodates mostly light planes. There is the possibility, however, that the county would lengthen the runway to accommodate jet craft that will be displaced as San Jose International Airport eases out of its general aviation operation.
That should not happen. South County residents have invested in a lifestyle set out by the county’s general plan – its blueprint for growth – that says San Martin and its environs will remain a rural, country oasis. County officials need to remember that there is more to maintaining a rural environment than lot size. When the roar of jet engines drown out the whinnies of horses begging for their evening flakes of hay, a community ceases to be rural.
