Airport area offers nice balance

<p>(Editor’s note: This is one in an ongoing series of stories taking a close-up look at neighborhoods in Petaluma.)</p><p>When David and Doreen Coe moved with their three young daughters to a home on Garfield Drive in the mid-1970s, they were simply hoping to settle in an affordable, pleasant neighborhood.</p><p>They were among the first residents of the area, and as it began to grow, they began enjoying it beyond their wildest dreams.</p><p>“Several families moved in at the same time, and they either had kids, or kids on the way,” David Coe said. “We all helped each other as we raised our families together.</p><p>“We had an absolute blast, and our neighbors became closer than family. It was a time and an opportunity that I will cherish forever.”</p><p>The families gathered for Halloween, Christmas, Labor Day and Fourth of July parties, as well as for formal dinner nights where couples wore rented tuxedoes and gowns, celebrity nights where they wore rented costumes and murder-mystery parties.</p><p>A group of young men played in a neighborhood band, many families went to First Presbyterian Church together and “dropping in on the neighbors” was a way of life.</p><p>“On any evening or weekend, we would just wander around until we found somebody free, and then start to socialize,” Coe said. “Sometimes, we would hang out together for the rest of the day.”</p><p>Many residents feel that the Garfield Drive/Petaluma Municipal Airport neighborhood remains a friendly, family-oriented place, but the original children now are adults, and over time the area has grown and many families have moved away.</p><p>“We used to have well over 100 kids come to our place on Halloween, but now we get maybe a dozen or two,” Coe said. </p><p>“The neighborhood has changed a quite a bit,” said James Croy, who has lived on Garfield Drive since 1969. “Only three of our old neighbors are left, but it’s still a friendly place.”</p><p>The population of the neighborhood has grown from 775 in 1990 to 946 in 2009, and during this time, the percentage of children age 14 and under dropped from 25.2 percent to 18.6 percent. Two of the other most notable changes during this period are the rise in the percentage of Hispanics, from 9.1 percent to 17.3 percent, and the increase in household incomes over $100,000, from 7.8 percent to 45.6 percent.</p><p>“It’s a very eclectic mix of people,” including public servants, trades workers and professionals, said Bob Kates, who has resided on Weatherby Way since 1993.</p><p>Amid the construction of new homes in the neighborhood, the main street, Garfield Drive, was extended, and now runs from East Washington Street to Casa Grande Road. This has brought much more traffic to the neighborhood.</p><p>“Garfield Drive is like a freeway in the morning, and after school lets out,” Croy said.</p><p>“The area’s still on the quiet side, though, except for the people who drive fast,” said Joan Roberts, who has lived on Garfield Drive since 1987.</p><p>The main feature of the neighborhood, Petaluma Municipal Airport, opened in 1984, but the rich history of the property dates back decades earlier. After serving as a pilot and aviation instructor for the U.S. Army until 1945, George Justman began operating an airfield near McDowell Road, just south of Lindberg Lane. </p><p>Two years later, Justman and his wife, Violet, opened an airport, The Sky Ranch and Justman’s Flying Service, on 20 acres of property just off East Washington Street that they bought from rancher George Perry. The airport had a 2,000-foot dirt runway that was kept smooth by dragging a heavy railroad track across it. The runway subsequently was upgraded to compressed oil and shale so that it could gain government and FAA approval, and in 1950, it was recognized as the most outstanding privately owned airport in California.</p><p>George and Violet Justman divorced, and sold the airport in the mid-1960s. It eventually was expanded, paved and renamed Petaluma Municipal Airport. It now is operational 24 hours a day, and is staffed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, including holidays.</p><p>The airport previously was used for classes at Santa Rosa Junior College’s Petaluma campus, and offered “Penny-a-Pound” events in which 15-minute, scenic flights were available for a contribution of $10 for adults and $5 for children age 10 and under, along with a penny-a-pound fee for every pound the passengers weigh, to cover fuel costs. Many exhibits have been held at the airport, including the Petaluma Area Pilot’s Association’s Classic Wings & Wheels 2009 display on July 18.</p><p>While the notion of living near an airport often conjures up nightmarish scenarios of incessant, loud noise, most residents interviewed not only aren’t bothered much by the noise: They like having the airport nearby.</p><p>“The airport doesn’t bother us at all. When we hear a jet, we go outside and watch it,” said Lisa Greisen, who has lived on Weatherby Way for the past 14 years.</p><p>“Our grandchildren enjoy watching the planes come and go. We really don’t notice the noise unless large planes are flying over,” Roberts said.</p><p>Residents living closer to the airport, such as those on Appaloosa Circle, are more affected by the noise.</p><p>“If you go over my fence, you are at the airport. The airport noise (generally) doesn’t bother me, but I have to admit that the new helicopter can by annoying,” said John Turner, who has lived on Appaloosa Circle for the past 20 years,</p><p>Gary and Peg Grubb, who have lived on Appaloosa Circle since 1989, kept their own plane at the airport before selling it a few years ago. </p><p>“At the time we owned an airplane, it was a big thing to us,” Peg Grubb said. “The airport is noisier than it was when we moved in. For one thing, they allow jets to be here now. They’re not very loud, but they make a high-pitched noise when they take off.”</p><p>Nicely balancing the modern, technological aspects of the airport are the neighborhood’s many hiking and biking trails, as well as Washington Creek and nearby parks.</p><p>“We really like living here on the edge of town. If you go to the end of our street, you’ve got Wiseman (Airport) Park and bike trails,” Kates said.</p><p>“I like the fact that the neighborhood is near to a walking path and near Wiseman Park,” said Mike Paff, who has lived with wife Vicki on Weatherby Drive since 1999.</p><p>“We have a dog, and we meet up with other owners in the park,” Vicki Paff added.</p><p>Wiseman Park, adjacent to the airport and on the periphery of the neighborhood, is named after Fred J. Wiseman, who on Feb. 17, 1911, made a U.S. airmail flight from Petaluma to Santa Rosa, thereby marking the first such flight ever made in a plane. The 21-acre park is a popular spot for watching planes come and go, and contains a playground and playing fields.</p><p>Arroyo Park and Prince Park are just outside the neighborhood, and La Tercera Park and Adobe Creek Golf & Country Club are only a bit further away.</p><p>Perhaps Coe best elucidates the feeling many residents have about the neighborhood.</p><p>“Doreen says that we’re going to die here. I guess she likes it OK,” he said.</p><p>(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com. Yovanna Bieberich, John Jackson, Chris Samson and Corey Young contributed to this article.)</p>