Vote to Allow Small Jets in Fullerton Sparks Furor

The Fullerton City Council voted 4 to 1 early Wednesday to allow small jets to use the Fullerton Municipal Airport, prompting angry homeowners to immediately announce a recall drive against the four assenting members.

“Ma’am, we’re starting a recall drive. Would you like to join us?” Fullerton resident Carl Stevenson asked as the last people trickled out of City Hall about 1 a.m. Wednesday. He was among about a dozen residents collecting names of supporters for a recall drive.

Organizers said Wednesday afternoon that they would continue gathering signature in hopes of unseating Mayor A.B. (Buck) Catlin, Mayor Pro Tem Richard C. Ackerman and Councilwomen Molly McClanahan and Linda LeQuire.

Catlin said Wednesday afternoon that it is the first time in 17 years in city government that he’s heard of a move to oust Fullerton council members.

“That’s their option. What the City Council has to deal with is what’s best for the community,” Catlin said.

Fewer than 75 people of an original 400-plus crowd remained to hear the council vote to delete a “no jets” clause in a city ordinance. The Federal Aviation Administration has told the city that the clause might discriminate against jet aircraft.

Airport Director Rodney L. Murphy assured the audience that the changes would not lead to a flood of jet traffic. Noise, weight and runway length restrictions mean in effect that only one type of jet--the Citation 1--will be permitted to use the airport under the amended ordinance, he said.

But angry residents, mostly from Fullerton and Buena Park, disagreed.

Many expressed fears that an accident similar to the one Aug. 31 involving an Aeromexico jetliner and a private plane over Cerritos could occur in their neighborhoods. Some said their property values would fall. And most argued that they already suffer from excessive aircraft noise and a fear of low-flying planes.

The audience interrupted council members throughout the meeting and booed the council after the vote. Councilman Chris Norby was the lone dissenter and the only one not targeted for the recall drive.

The council said it was forced to change the law or risk lawsuits and the loss of FAA grants. Over the next few years, Fullerton is expected to receive more than $2 million from the latest grant, which totaled more than $3 million, Airport Director Murphy said.

Murphy told the meeting that by limiting the maximum weight of an aircraft to 12,500 pounds--which the FAA uses to differentiate between large and small jets--automatically eliminates most jets from using the airport. Other restrictions, such as a 75-decibel maximum noise level and a 3,120-foot runway, also preclude most jets. Only the Citation 1, of which there are about 550 now in use nationwide, will be allowed to land at the city airport under the restrictions, Murphy said.

But residents said that new technology could change that situation. Next year, other jets could meet the restrictions, they said. To ensure that other jets are barred from the airport, residents asked the council to change the maximum weight in its proposal from 12,500 pounds to 8,000 or 9,000 pounds.

The council appeared ready to adopt an 11,000-pound cutoff, when City Atty. R.K. Fox called city officials into a closed session around midnight. When they emerged 20 minutes later, the mayor announced that the council would stick to the original plan--as recommended by the city’s airport director and Airport Users Task Force.

“It was the arbitrariness of it,” Councilwoman McClanahan explained to Buena Park resident Ellen Kermer after the meeting. “The 11,000 (figure) was not based on fact. It has to be based on a professional engineering study.”

Many residents at the meeting night encouraged the council to “let the courts” decide whether the ordinance discriminates against jets. They also asked the city to consider not accepting any more federal grants for improving the airport.

“At some point, I think we have to say no more grants--we don’t want your money,” said Marjorie Leedham, 58, of Fullerton. “We do not want the federal government controlling our ordinance.”

Referring to the FAA, resident Timothy Bentley, 38, said, “It doesn’t seem like we should be held hostage by those people.”

Murphy said Wednesday afternoon that rejecting FAA grants is not advisable because the airport still would be subject to federal regulations governing public-use facilities and interstate commerce. He also said that rejecting FAA grants would not eliminate the risk of being sued for discrimination.

Mayor Catlin said that residents’ anger largely reflected a desire by some to close down the Fullerton airport completely.

As part of the ordinance vote, the council agreed to buy portable noise-monitoring equipment. It also agreed to set fines for violators of the ordinance regulating aircraft to $250, $500 and $1,000 for a first, second and third violation, respectively.