Transportation matters to the developers of the San Diego Air Commerce Center. The proposal to redevelop Brown Field into an air cargo facility represents a major component of the region's transportation infrastructure. Consider the following:
    1. The first phase of the project will pump $250 million into the Brown Field's infrastructure. Its two runways will be extended, the primary runway to 11,500 feet. Roads, water, electricity and gas will be added to the north side of the project. Before an air cargo plane lands, the city of San Diego will be the owner of an airport with vastly upgraded capabilities.
    2. These improvements to Brown Field come at no cost to the public. Future phases — air cargo handling facilities, offices and other commercial uses — also will be built by private investments. The entire project will be built at no risk to the public.
    3. Lindbergh Field cannot handle added cargo capacity for the long term. Reducing the cargo burden at Lindbergh helps the airport and region meet its needs to serve air passengers.
    4. Estimates have 1.8 million trucks passing by Brown Field every year. A commerce center can capture many of those now carrying air cargo over Interstates 5 and 15 and other surface roads on the way to air cargo facilities in Los Angeles and Ontario.
    5. In addition to the private investments, the commerce center also will participate significantly in facility benefit assessment districts to improve existing roads and highways.
    6. The center is a proposal to redevelop an underutilized asset of the city of San Diego. It is not a new airport; Brown Field's runways have been atop Otay Mesa since the late 1920s. Even nimbyism isn’t a valid argument against this project. Brown Field was there first and it has been eyed for decades for significant improvements.
    These are just the transportation solutions that the center helps provide to the region. The economic benefits are extraordinary as well.
    A commerce center would generate more than $1 billion in annual economic impacts for the region. More than 11,000 high paying jobs would be created. San Diego’s high-tech, biotech, electronics and agriculture businesses believe local air cargo capability is vital to their future competitiveness.
    So powerful are these facts that independent research by the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce, the Regional San Diego Economic Development Corp. and the San Diego World Trade Center has led these groups to publicly endorse the project.
    It is evident that the center not only provides a critical piece of the region's transportation infrastructure puzzle, but it also can become an engine that drives the region's future economic prosperity. Its positive role in the region's quality growth is clear.
    Recently in this column space, Carlene Baskevitch of Pardee Homes characterized the commerce center role in this region as "murky."
    Since that article was published, people have been bused to city hall to oppose the project. An anti-Brown Field storefront has been opened in the South Bay. Pardee Homes has hired an economist to testify at public meetings. An attorney retained by Pardee also has testified to planning commissioners. Rarely has one developer spent so much to defeat the project of another.
    Why would Pardee spend so much time and money to try to delay a project? Clearly, it is self-serving and economically motivated.
    What makes Pardee's vociferous and costly opposition so curious is its participation with the city of San Diego to set the ground rules for Brown Field expansion. In 1987, Pardee agreed to noise guidelines that established Dennery Canyon as the western boundary for maximum allowable noise levels. Center operations, by law, must fall within those guidelines. It also must comply with many other stringent environmental restrictions. It cannot operate otherwise.
    Pardee is developing Ocean View Hills, a new home community almost two miles from the end of the Brown Field runway and outside the Dennery Canyon boundary. Each homebuyer at Ocean View Hills has signed an aviation agreement that discloses the proposed expansion of Brown Field. It states that each home "will be overflown by commercial or private aircraft of all types … at any hour of the day" and that city of San Diego has been granted an easement above the elevation of 684 feet above the property.
    Despite signing this agreement, Ocean View Hills homeowners have stated that they were unaware of the proposed plan for Brown Field. Therein lies the rub.
    Commerce center developers have spent three years informing people around San Diego of the plans for Brown Field. More than 350 meetings have been held with planning groups, chambers of commerce, civic groups and community organizations. Most major newspapers have carried articles and favorable editorials for the better part of two years. Direct mail, newsletters and advertising have been part of the marketing mix.
    Center developers understand the concerns of nearby residents. Noise, flight path, number of flights and traffic are all legitimate concerns. The developers are confident that the project's final Environmental Impact Report, which is now being reviewed by the city of San Diego, will support every fact stated publicly on the project's potential impact and benefits.
    Developers also are convinced that this plan is the best for area residents in terms of Brown Field expansion. This is not Twin Ports. If air cargo plans are developed at Rodriguez Airport in Tijuana, the airplanes landing there (just 1.5 miles to the south) will be far noisier and will frequently use U.S. airspace for takeoffs. Air cargo at Rodriguez will rob San Diego of jobs and have an unmitigated impact on the South Bay environment.
    On the other hand, air cargo at Brown Field represents a rare opportunity for San Diego to improve its regional transportation infrastructure without a cent of public subsidy. It is a chance that comes but once in a lifetime. Brown Field will be a facility that puts San Diego on the map as a worldwide leader in providing transportation solutions.

Larry Killeen, president of the San Diego Air Commerce Center, was formerly the executive director of the Port of San Diego and the Port of Tacoma. He is recognized as an expert of air, rail and shipping issues.