When Contra Costa Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier suggested moving Buchanan Field so the area could be developed, it seemed unlikely, but worth consideration. Residential and commercial construction would have created thousands of jobs and several million dollars in annual tax revenues for the county.
Moreover, there would be no cost to taxpayers because the developer would bear the cost. Shapell Industries expressed considerable interest in the proposal, calling for a $2.6 billion mixed-use project on the current airport site.
To develop Buchanan Field, federal law requires that another similar or better airport be built nearby. Shapell was willing to meet federal requirements to get development rights at the airport. However, Shapell's proposal never got the support of the Federal Aviation Administration or of private pilots who have used the 59-year-old airport.
But an even bigger hurdle for Shapell was finding a suitable place for a new airport that was close to Buchanan Field. There simply isn't any alternative site that could become a replacement airport.
Amazingly, Shapell tried to get support for building a new airport between Highway 4 and the Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline. The site is hilly and would require destruction of the terrain as well as the tranquillity of the shoreline park.
Pilots didn't like the site because it was subject to fog. No wonder it received scant support.
Shapell says its development plan is still a valid project, but, last week it backed off its bid to move the Concord airport.
The developer's acquiescence to geographic and political reality likely means that Buchanan Field is here to stay for the indefinite future. That should permanently remove development plans from the supervisors' agenda.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press
