The Santa Barbara Airport presented an update to the master plan, including a preferred development concept, to the City Council on Tuesday. 

Possible changes include reconfiguration of a dual runway system, curb improvements and a three-level parking garage.

Project manager Corbett Smith told the council that airport officials are predicting 878,700 annual passengers boarding aircraft by 2041, but they are looking ahead at continued growth and planning for 1.1 million annual passengers, which would require eight gates and an additional 34,000 square feet of terminal space.

Smith presented the airport’s preferred terminal reconfiguration, which would include closing one runway and converting it into a taxiway and constructing a new terminal. 

Improvements for the curb outside the terminal would include additional signs and markings for the public to better utilize curb space, separating the inner and outer curbs for pick-up and drop-off, and a modification of the short-term parking lot to accommodate transportation network companies picking up and dropping off passengers. The preliminary cost estimate for curb improvements is $50,000.

The update also includes improvements to the general aviation hangars as they’re predicting an additional 44 general aviation aircraft. Hangars will be a variety of sizes throughout airport property to accommodate a variety of aircraft. It would cost between $17 million and $34 million, according to Smith.

The plan also includes a vertiport site to accommodate electrical vertical take-off and landing aircraft. The site would cost $2.7 million. 

Those aircraft can hold up to six passengers or some cargo and are anticipated for Los Angeles- or San Francisco-area passengers getting to Santa Barbara, or could be utilized by a cargo company such as UPS, according to Chris Hastert, airport director.

“We think Santa Barbara is very uniquely positioned to potentially receive demand for these in the next 20 years,” Smith said. 

Parking improvements include adding a three-level parking garage south of the existing terminal, which Smith said they identified as the only site able to accommodate the 1,250 parking stalls they predict they will need as the number of annual passengers increases. The parking garage is expected to cost $45 million, according to Smith.

The Federal Aviation Administration distributes funds through the airport improvement fund each year and is expected to cover 90.66% of the project cost. Hastert said additional funding could come from the customer facility charge from rental cars. 

Hastert told the council that they are looking to incorporate sea-level rise data into the master plan, examine aircraft electrification and sustainable fuels, and update their recycling and waste programs.

The Santa Barbara Airport completed a master plan as recently as 2017, but the FAA advises that airports update their master plans every five to 10 years. 

Councilman Eric Friedman asked about the possibility of a restaurant for passengers and the public to enjoy as they watch planes take off and land. 

As part of the terminal improvement project, there are plans to add a restaurant above the observation deck, but construction isn’t expected to begin for two years and the restaurants won’t be operational for four years. It will be a post-security restaurant, but a TSA visitor pass program could allow the public to access the restaurants, if the program is still available at the time of opening.

Airport staff also are exploring other areas throughout the airport to add restaurants and vending machines, according to Angi Daus, marketing supervisor. 

Before the presentation, Hastert told the City Council that drainage isn’t a part of the plan, but they are working toward developing solutions to prevent flooding on the airfield.

“With all of the recent flooding, I want to assure you that we are looking at drainage as part of a drainage master plan for the airport as well as some potential short-term fixes,” Hastert said. 

In the next few months, the airport will present the final draft of the master plan to the Planning Commission and the City Council, and hold public meetings to receive feedback.

Once the master plan is approved and the airport layout plan is submitted to the FAA, there will be additional work on environmental impacts for which the public will be able to provide input.

Approval of the master plan by the FAA could take multiple months and possibly up to a year.