San Martin residents rightfully concerned

No wonder San Martin residents are worried. The bucolic
character of their unincorporated assortment of ranchettes is
threatened, and whether that threat is properly addressed now rests
with the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, a group that
because of past actions does not have the township’s trust.
San Martin residents rightfully concerned

No wonder San Martin residents are worried. The bucolic character of their unincorporated assortment of ranchettes is threatened, and whether that threat is properly addressed now rests with the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, a group that because of past actions does not have the township’s trust.

At issue is the airport that runs along Highway 101, where pilots practicing touch-and-goes entertain passersby. But what is entertaining to some, most definitely is not to those who live in the airport flight path and must endure the drones and roars of private planes seven days a week.

If a consultant’s plan is approved – and supervisors seem intent on rubberstamping it – those roars and drones will become more frequent. The plan would open up the South Valley Airport to more air traffic as San Jose Airport phases out general aviation and the lease on the strip in Palo Alto expires.

San Martin residents have argued that enlarging the airport is in violation of the county’s general plan, which calls for leaving San Martin an oasis of country living. That concept seems to exclude dozens of airplanes buzzing overhead.

A bigger airport, however, might be more than just irritating – it could affect residents’ equity in their homes. A new bill by former supervisor and current Assemblyman Joe Simitian enlarges an airport’s sphere of influence that homeowners must disclose when selling their properties.

If supervisors approve the plan, it’s one more thing with which San Martin residents must contend – on top of a wrecking yard, methadone clinic, a sheriff’s substation, a county bus barn and the waste transfer station the county already has placed, under resident protest, in their neighborhoods.