Saratoga News

Letter

Cities should voice their opinions on the future of Moffett Field

Considerable confusion and uncertainty exists concerning the opening of Moffett Field (a closed Navy base) to civilian airfield uses, such as air cargo. San Jose International Airport is meeting resistance to its plans to expand and would surely like to dump some of its air cargo down on us. Thus, the door would be opened for many carriers to come to Moffett, and the communities would suffer the noise and congestion for the sake of the carriers' bottom line. NASA spokesman Michael Marlaire has stated that NASA wants to work with the cities and is not going to do anything that will upset the residents.

So, depending on who you believe, the work of the land-use study committee, CAC, is of questionable value or will provide NASA some guidance. We strongly believe that instead of just ducking the issue, cities have an obligation to serve their constituents and take a firm stand and united front against increased air traffic at Moffett. It's always easy to be skeptical and therefore do nothing, but it would be more useful if the affected cities were to declare their objections in order to help the decision makers. U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo, 14th district, is on record as being opposed to air cargo at Moffett. But there are always concerns about political wheeling and dealing.

The myth continues that if the planes approach and take off only from over the Bay, then cities would not be impacted. From a technical standpoint, such flight operations are not possible. Aeronautical engineers and pilots we have consulted assure us that conventional flight operations require that aircraft land and take off into the wind, which, in our area, would mean landing approaches from the south. This puts the downwind descent and approach over Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Cupertino and Sunnyvale. As traffic increases, even more neighboring cities, like Saratoga and Los Gatos, would be impacted. Citizens should communicate with their city councils and Rep. Eshoo.

Carl and Myra Orta
Alliance for a New Moffett Field, Los Altos

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