Story ID: 
Voters Reject Bi-Coastal Airport Plans
By: Gordon Gilbert
Caption: Two non-binding referendums on opposite coasts of the U.S.
Word Count: 151
Two non-binding referendums on opposite coasts of the U.S. allowed voters to register their opinions about airport projects, and both referendums failed to win approval. In Jacksonville, Fla., voters were asked to support a plan to return Cecil Field to the U.S. Navy, which gave most of the airport to the city in 1999 under a Base Realignment and Closure program. Cecil has two FBOs and Flightstar Aircraft Services, a commercial and corporate aircraft maintenance company. In San Diego, citizens voted 62 to 38 percent not to OK plans to make part of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar into a commercial airport. Under California law, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority must plan for a regional international airport, but the Miramar site had problems with safety, national security, waste of taxpayer money, gridlock on the ground and in the air and environmental impacts, according to a group that opposed the proposal.