"Airport Land Use: San Jose's high-rise towers spell trouble for airport"

Tuesday, December 6, 2005

City's towers spell trouble
HEIGHTS CONCERN AIRPORT COMMISSION
By Deborah Lohse
The San Jose (CA) Mercury News


San Jose's plans for more high-rise towers downtown could make it harder to
attract new airlines or international flights to the city's airport, an
advisory group warned Monday night.

In a resolution to San Jose's city council, the airport commission voted 4-0
to forward their concerns that plans for high-rises, including the 22-story
Almaden Tower behind the Hotel De Anza, are being made without enough
attention to the disruption the buildings could cause for flights leaving
San Jose. Three members were absent.

The problem, the commissioners say, is that about 15 percent to 20 percent
of takeoffs are in the direction of the planned high-rises -- southeast --
rather than the typical northward route. That tends to happen in certain bad
weather or in other cases when wind direction shifts.

The Federal Aviation Administration must approve the size of buildings in
the flight path, to make sure they can be safely cleared by planes taking
off. But even if a building is declared safe by the FAA, it can still pose
problems for airlines, which have stricter rules about takeoffs over tall
buildings. Those rules often require them to reduce planes' weight load to
ensure they can clear the buildings in an emergency, such as an engine
failure.

That, in turn, means that airlines might have to cut back on passengers or
cargo, affecting their bottom line. ``That makes it less attractive to us,
if we cannot fill our planes,'' said Marilee McInnis, a spokeswoman for
Southwest Airlines, which has asked the FAA for an accounting of all
high-rise developments planned for San Jose airspace.

Another option would be to carry less fuel, which could make it impossible
for certain non-stop international flights to get to their destinations
without having to stop and refuel.

The airport commission wants the city council to develop an official policy
for reviewing the impact on airspace and airlines when weighing plans for
new high-rises. ``Building high-rise buildings downtown is good economic
development, but so is expanding the airport,'' said Steven Tedesco,
chairman of the airport commission.

The resolution is expected to be presented to the city council early next
year.

Almaden Tower, slated to be built at the site of the Palomar Ballroom,
became a flash point for this issue. The building, a 22-story tower with 330
residential units, a garage and 8,000 square feet of retail space, was
initially declared unsafe by the FAA at 259 feet. So the developer, KT
Properties of Cupertino, changed its plans to fall under the 228-foot
maximum, and the city council approved the development. But two airlines,
Southwest and American, have asked the FAA to further review the matter,
which it has agreed to do.

ALUC Ignored

Another airport group, the Santa Clara County Airport Land Use Commission,
complained about the proposed building's height a couple of years ago, said
Ron Blake, a member of that commission, who added the city council overruled
the group's concerns.

City planning and development officials need to better factor in such
concerns when deciding on new high-rises, Tedesco said. The greater the
hassle or uncertainty for airlines, the less inclined they will be to expand
or set up shop here, he said.

``You've got to encourage airlines to come in,'' Tedesco said. ``They need
reliability that they will be able to fill up their flights.''


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