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County sued over American Airlines lease

County sued over American Airlines lease

Reports indicate a Carlsbad resident group files a lawsuit claiming environmental violations by the county over the airline’s lease approval

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Steve Puterski
Jan 29, 2025
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County sued over American Airlines lease
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Carlsbad-based Citizens for a Friendly Airport has filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the lease agreement with American Airlines and San Diego County for service out of McClellan-Palomar Airport. File photo
Carlsbad-based Citizens for a Friendly Airport has filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the lease agreement with American Airlines and San Diego County for service out of McClellan-Palomar Airport. File photo

CARLSBAD — A resident group has filed a lawsuit against San Diego County and the Board of Supervisors for approving a lease agreement with American Airlines earlier this month.

Citizens for a Friendly Airport, which also sued the county over the county-owned McClellan-Palomar Airport Master Plan in 2018, claims the county is violating the California Environmental Quality Act and other state environmental laws. The group filed the suit on Jan. 27.

Many observers expected litigation once it was revealed in July that American Airlines was preparing to operate out of Carlsbad. The airline is scheduled to begin service in mid-February marking the return of commercial service since 2015.

Refer a friend

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the lease agreement on Jan. 8.

“The county is trying to ignore the promise that it made to the City of Carlsbad and its residents decades ago when it annexed city land: We will get your permission before expanding our footprint or the scale of our operations,” Briggs said in a statement to CBS 8, who first reported on the lawsuit. “That promise was upheld in court just a few years back, and we expect it to be upheld again.”

Vickey Syage, president of CF4A, declined to comment citing the ongoing litigation. County representatives also declined comment due to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed by San Diego attorney Cory Briggs, alleges the county violates CEQA by virtue of an insufficient environmental impact report (EIR) and the lease doesn’t comply with the condition use permit (CUP) between the county and city of Carlsbad.

Cf4a Lawsuit
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Regarding the EIR, the lawsuit states there was no reasonable range of alternatives was analyzed, and no mitigation measures were put in place. The county “failed” because it did not conduct an EIR for American Airlines’ service.

A case management hearing is scheduled at 9:30 a.m. on July 11 in front of Judge Loren Freestone. The lawsuit requests an injunctive relief prohibiting the county and American Airlines from action until they comply with CEQA.

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