Fullerton Residents Oppose Lifting Airport Ban on Jets

The Aeromexico plane crash in Cerritos that killed 82 people occurred a month ago--but it was as vivid in the memories of the more than 400 people crowded into Fullerton City Hall Tuesday night as if it had just happened.

They were there to protest a proposed ordinance allowing some small jets to use Fullerton Municipal Airport.

“I don’t think it’s fair that my privacy, my air, is invaded right now,” said Ellen Kermer, 42, from neighboring Buena Park. “When you hear an engine that sounds different, you get scared.”

She added that she sometimes hears an airplane and thinks: “He’s not going to make it.”

In a meeting punctuated by loud comments, applause and jeers from the audience, emotions ran high as residents spoke of their lives being disrupted by noisy aircraft.

Fears of Disaster

“You asked us not to be emotional,” Nola Marecek, 46, of Fullerton said to the council. But that seemed impossible for Maracek and others who spoke of lowered property values, fears of disaster and low-flying jets.

“Here we are facing a dilemma,” said Fullerton Mayor A.B. (Buck) Catlin, “and the dilemma is: Should we allow a jet to come in?”

Catlin said that if the city didn’t approve the ordinance it might face lawsuits in view of FAA warnings that it could be discriminating against certain types of aircraft whose owners want to land at the airport.

The council had not yet taken a vote on the ordinance late Tuesday.

“The proposed change in the ordinance deletes the restriction of ‘no jets’ at Fullerton Airport,” airport Director Rodney L. Murphy wrote in an Aug. 5 report. “However, staff feels confident the proposed ordinance maintains the intent of the original ordinance in preserving a harmonious atmosphere at our airport in relationship to our community.”

In a Sept. 24 memo, Murphy reiterated his recommendation to the council that the proposed ordinance be adopted. It already has received initial council approval.

Delayed After Crash

The council was scheduled to vote on the recommendation during its Sept. 2 meeting, two days after the Cerritos crash, but a decision was postponed at the request of about a dozen people who complained that the city had not publicized the plan.

Catlin told the residents repeatedly that the new proposal is a response to concerns by the Federal Aviation Administration that the city’s current regulations could be discriminatory. The FAA began reviewing Fullerton’s law after an inquiry by a jet owner, who asked why he could not land his jet at the city’s airport, Murphy said Tuesday afternoon.

Because the city could lose federal airport grants if it violates an FAA rule prohibiting discrimination, Fullerton officials in 1985 authorized a study to address concerns about the local law. The amended ordinance under review Tuesday was the result of that study.

Murphy said the new law would not open the door to all jets because of other restrictions, such as the length of the runway--3,120 feet--”which eliminates a lot of jets.”

Runway, Weight Limits

A consultant hired by the city--Gerald M. Dallas of Rawlings Enterprises--concluded that the length of the runway and weight restrictions would effectively regulate the type and size of aircraft that could operate safely at the airport.

The ordinance limits a plane’s maximum weight to 12,500 pounds and its noise to 75 decibels.

At stake is about $3.5 million in FAA grant money Fullerton was to receive over the next few years, Murphy said. Since 1948, when Fullerton received its first grant, the city has received nine grants from the FAA.

“The only thing I’m concerned about, a lot of these things are done in good faith and done with as much care as possible, but there’s always a chance of Murphy’s Law coming through: If there’s a chance of something wrong happening, it will happen,” resident Roy T. Kobayashi said before the council meeting.

The council also was scheduled to decide Tuesday night whether to purchase a portable noise monitor, which would be used to track airplane noise levels.