DHL opens West Coast hub

On the heels of the latest BRAC commission proceedings, express delivery giant DHL opened its new West Coast hub this week at March Air Reserve Base near Riverside. The opening of the 262,000 square-foot facility -- one of 12 such facilities recently opened or being built in the U.S. by DHL -- is the first joint-use of a U.S. military airfield by a commercial air cargo carrier. Locally, the new cargo hub is expected to be a prime catalyst for future economic growth along the I-215 corridor between Riverside and Temecula.

DHL's new facility at March ARB
The Press-Enterprise

After being downsized in 1996, local officials from Riverside County and the cities of Moreno Valley, Perris and Riverside, began a high-profile process of attracting commercial uses for the now joint-use airfield and surrounding surplus property. After about 8 years of nibbling and a few bites, the opportunity to land a major cargo carrier surfaced in 2004.

Yet, the deal to land #1 worldwide air cargo carrier DHL had to overcome the usual bumps and hurdles -- namely, the typical NIMBYism by folks who bought homes near an 87-year-old (and still active) military airfield only to suddenly realize there might be a few more planes flying overhead.

Most of the neighborhood opponents claimed not to be bothered so much by the large KC-10s, KC-135s, C-5As, C-17s and a few F-16s that routinely arrive and depart from the base at all hours of the day and night. No, these were "military" operations and, as Americans, it was their civic duty to grin and bear any such annoyances and inconveniences. But as soon as it was announced that a "commercial" tenant would potentially be flying up to 20 flights a day -- all hell seemed to break lose.

As expected, a neighborhood group was formed; public meetings were attended; half-truths and scare tactics were in abundance; and, of course, a lawsuit was filed. In the end, however, the organizer of the group moved 20 miles down the road, the lawsuit was tossed out of court and DHL was cleared to land.

For a while, all seemed moot and relatively quiet -- that is until at the 11th hour when an apparent misleading flight map used during public meetings surfaced. Suddenly, new cries bellowed and threats of lawsuits were reissued all the while a local city councilman (in which whose council ward the neighborhood group initially formed) tried to appease constituents.

Base re-use officials assert they did not realize of the map mishap until late in the proceedings and had no intention of deceiving the public -- a claim that indeed should be investigated if only because such errors need to be accounted for.

But in the big scheme of things -- bad flight map or not -- it doesn't really matter. Because in reality, all the erroneous map did was depict the departure route slightly more toward the west, which in effect simply "pushed" the flights (and the "poison air" that opponents were so vocal about and fearful of) over someone else's neighborhood. Which, in true NIMBYism fashion, is all the detractors really cared about.

Anyhow, in a region flush with countless commuters and a real need for large-scale, high-paying employers, an economic catalyst such as DHL should be -- and in reality is -- welcomed by the majority of residents. However, it never ceases to amaze me in this great experiment we call a democracy, that so few people can affect change on so many. At its best, a true democracy by nature should involve everyone at all levels, and not be the exclusive domain of big business and big government -- nor tiny NIMBY groups.

Related

• Riverside Press-Enterprise - DHL opens hub at March base


• Inland Valley Daily Bulletin - DHL opens at March


• Riverside Press-Enterprise - Inland Military Bases


• DHL.com

Previous posts

• 10/29/2004 - The battle for DHL


• 12/15/2004 - The battle for DHL - part deux


• 01/07/2005 - The Battle for DHL - part trois