Governor Vetoes County Airports’ Exemption From Tough Land-Use Law

Gov. George Deukmejian on Tuesday rejected legislation that would have exempted Los Angeles County airports--including Palmdale, Burbank and Van Nuys--from a law designed to control growth around the state’s airports.

Under current law, Los Angeles County planners have until 1992 to fashion comprehensive land-use plans to ensure that commercial and residential developments are compatible with flight safety and noise control regulations around the county’s 15 airports.

“Without such planning, airports and the businesses surrounding them may be forced to close as development encroaches” because the increasing population would put the airports in violation of state law, Deukmejian said in vetoing the exemption bill.

The governor said he does not believe “that the county should be completely exempted from provisions of this act, which will assist in preserving necessary airport facilities.”

The governor’s action is the latest twist in a controversy that surfaced in 1989 after Deukmejian signed a bill to put teeth into a 20-year-old requirement for land-use planning around airports statewide. That measure prompted an outcry from a number of Los Angeles County cities, which complained that their planning authority around airports would be usurped by the county.

The exemption proposal was introduced by state Sen. Robert Beverly (R-Manhattan Beach), who earlier this year successfully pushed through legislation to give Los Angeles County an extra six months to comply with the law. But Deukmejian said he would not allow the law to be eased any more.

Clancy Leland--a lobbyist for Los Angeles County, which pushed for passage of the exemption measure--said he was unsure if the exemption proposal will be revived next year.

Leland described the current law as “so vague, so general, it doesn’t tell you what you are supposed to do.”

Other critics of the current law have argued that Los Angeles County’s Regional Planning Commission, designated by state law as the airport planning agency, does not have the staff to handle the workload involved in planning around airports. Other opponents say that most airports in Los Angeles County already are surrounded by development.

But Ann Blue, a lobbyist for the city of Los Angeles, said the governor’s action means “that the county will have to take on the responsibility of doing land-use plans around airports.” She said the city opposed the Beverly bill because in many cases, including Palmdale, residential development already is coming too close to airports and preventive action is needed soon.

One source familiar with the legislation predicted that Los Angeles County cities, worried that the county will begin to control local zoning decisions around airports, will go to court to challenge the constitutionality of the current law and regain power over airport planning for itself.