OXNARD : McDonald’s Near Airport Is OKd

The Oxnard City Council on Tuesday approved plans for a McDonald’s restaurant near the Oxnard Airport, reversing a Planning Commission decision to reject the project because it was too close to an airport runway.

On a 4-0 vote, with Councilwoman Geraldine Furr absent, the council approved a permit for the restaurant planned for seven acres near the intersection of Ventura Road and West 5th Street.

Representatives of the California Pilots Assn. and other aviation groups protested the council’s decision and threatened a statewide boycott of the McDonald’s chain.

“In the event of an accident, there could be a catastrophe,” said Rich Tejeda, an Oxnard resident and member of the board of directors of the Ventura County Aviation Assn.

The Planning Commission in September had decided that a restaurant at the foot of an airport runway would create hazards for pilots and restaurant customers.

“These people are experts who really have time to study the problem in depth,” Tejeda said. “You wonder who is really running the city. Is it the bureaucrats or the people?”

But the Federal Aviation Administration and the state Division of Aeronautics said the restaurant posed no threat to pilots or restaurant customers, prompting council members to support the project.

“If those groups didn’t feel there was a hazard on the ground then it was likely there really wasn’t one,” said Councilwoman Dorothy Maron. “That was the point that I felt fairly convinced.”

Construction is expected to begin almost immediately, and the new eatery would be open by June.