County officials to study possible closure of Reid-Hillview Airport

“It’s a complex and regulated process,” said Freitas

Photo courtesy San Martin Airport San Martin Airport.

By Robert Airoldi

Ten years from now, the number of flights at the San Martin Airport will increase significantly if Santa Clara County officials close Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, which is expected to happen.

How much more airplane traffic and additional impacts to the residents of the rural community are now the subject of a public engagement plan. County Roads and Airports Director Harry Freitas said in an online forum Feb. 12 staff expect to present the plan to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in April. They are now seeking comment from South Valley residents.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that if an airport were to close, the surrounding airports are going to have an increase in traffic,” Freitas said. “That subject has to be studied very carefully.”

County supervisors still must decide the fate of the 180-acre Reid-Hillview Airport but for several years officials have been preparing to slowly phase out the facility by 2031. For the past four years, county staff and supervisors have been exploring alternative uses for the land, which sits across from Eastridge Mall on Tully Road in San Jose. Possible uses include commercial projects, a mixed-use neighborhood development with affordable housing, and education facilities.

Reid-Hillview Airport was built in the early 1940s. During the decades, homes were built around it. Today, residents have expressed concerns about planes continuously landing and taking off over these neighborhoods.

Preliminary discussions by county’s officials and the South Valley pilot community have considered expanding San Martin Airport’s asphalt runways beyond their current 3,100 feet, per the county’s South County Airport Master Plan Report. This would allow bigger planes to use it, such as the airtankers used to fight wildfires. To battle last year’s fires, these airtankers carried as much as 1,200 gallons of water or retardant chemicals and flew out of the Hollister Airport, which has a 6,350-foot runway.

In 2018, the board of supervisors voted to stop accepting grants for Reid-Hillview from the Federal Aviation Administration. That releases the county from its obligation to continue to operate the airport after the latest grant expires in 2031, Freitas explained.

“It is a complex and regulated process,” he said.