2 Airports Generate $55 Million : Economy: The Board of Supervisors hears the results of a study of the Oxnard and Camarillo facilities.

A study designed to silence residents who want to close the Oxnard and Camarillo airports concludes that air travelers and businesses associated with the facilities meant more than $55 million to Ventura County’s economy last year.

The airports were responsible for bringing to the county 74,000 visitors who spent about $13.1 million last year at hotels, restaurants and shopping centers and for transportation, according to the study, presented Tuesday to the County Board of Supervisors.

The study was commissioned by the supervisors to gain public support for the county-operated airports, which have been the targets of complaints about noise and the sources of worry about the safety of residences under flight paths.

Drafted by Corning & Associates of Palo Alto, the $40,000 study took four months to complete and represents airport activity during fiscal year 1989-90, county officials said.

About $35 million was generated by businesses at Camarillo Airport and by air travelers using the facility, while Oxnard Airport brought in about $20.7 million, the study shows. Those amounts included sales taxes, profits by the businesses that were spent locally and employee salaries.

Both airports are self-supporting and free of debt, according to the study.

While the study did not compare the Ventura County airports with others in the nation, Nona Makinson, operations manager of the two facilities, said she believes that they are just as successful.

Activity at the airports is increasing slowly but steadily, Makinson said.

The number of landings and takeoffs at Oxnard Airport increased from about 130,000 in 1989 to 140,000 last year, she said, while the number of landings and takeoffs at Camarillo Airport increased from about 200,000 to 230,000 during the same period.

But Camarillo Councilwoman Charlotte Craven said there are many residents who want to close the Camarillo facility because of noise. She said those residents will not be swayed by the study’s results.

Craven said she was surprised at the results of the study but noted that many businesses leasing land at Camarillo Airport have nothing to do with aviation.

For example, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department uses a parcel on the 658-acre airport to train deputy recruits, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service rents space where it holds illegal aliens before they are deported.

Linda Guillis, Oxnard’s economic development director, agreed that the airports play an important role in drawing business into the county.

“Historically speaking, regional airports and airports like Oxnard’s are intrinsic economic development tools,” she said. “If we had a regional airport, it would be an even bigger revenue generator.”

Tenants at the two airports pumped about $38 million into the economy--including $21 million in employee salaries, $4.8 million for capital improvements, and $1.7 million in property taxes, the study says.

Tourists and business travelers using the airports spent about $13 million in the county last year, the study says. Another $4 million was generated from other sources. This includes what local businesses spent for air travel and air freight shipments, according to the study.

The study maintains that the $55.7 million generated by the airports last year sparked an additional $40.9 million in spending locally for a total economic benefit of $96.7 million.