Will Remove Top 20 Feet From Building Near MYF

In a Tuesday night press conference -- held in the shadow of a controversial office tower project adjacent to San Diego's Montgomery Field (MYF) -- an attorney for construction contractor Sunroad Enterprises announced the company will agree to lower the height of the building by 20 feet, to bring the building into compliance with FAA height restrictions.

As ANN reported earlier this week, Mayor Jerry Sanders ordered the contractor to remove the top 20 feet of its Kearny Mesa office project, because the 180-foot building was deemed a hazard to air navigation by the FAA.

Sanders was only the latest entity to contest the project, eventually agreeing with City Attorney Michael Aguirre the tower should be lowered. Stating it had a valid city building permit for the project, Sunroad had finished the project despite warnings from the FAA, the California Division of Aeronautics, and local pilots. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association was party to a lawsuit against the contractor, demanding the tower be lowered.

Aguirre has alleged the mayor acted corruptly by allowing Sunroad, a campaign donor, to build a tall building so close to the airport in the first place.

A study by the FAA showed the tower, while not on airport property, sits in the path of IFR traffic circling to land on runways 23, 10L and 10R. The only published instrument procedures for the airport are to runway 28R. If winds or a runway closure require a landing on runways 23, 10L or 10R, a pilot must fly the procedure to 28R and circle to another runway after descending to minimums.

Therein lies the problem with the tower's current 180-foot height, which is 20 feet above the maximum height allowed in the area. Pilots circling to the north would fly very near -- if not directly over -- the new building.

According to a ruling by Mayor Sanders, Sunroad has until August 25 to remove the top 20 feet of the tower.

FMI: www.faa.gov, http://gc.kls2.com/airport/MYF, www.sunroadenterprises.com, www.aopa.org