Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Antonovich Questions New Airport Proposal : Aviation: The supervisor raises concerns about a plan to buy the Agua Dulce airstrip and expand its use.

Without taking a formal position, Supervisor Mike Antonovich indicated Tuesday that he has strong concerns about turning a rustic Agua Dulce airstrip into a county-owned, general aviation airport.

At Antonovich’s request, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors ordered the Aviation Commission to respond to 23 complex questions about the feasibility of the proposal, including 11 questions submitted by airport opponents.

“How safe is the existing location, given its proximity to homes and a school?” Antonovich read from the list of 11 questions. “Has the commission considered an acquisition for strictly emergency operations, i.e. no tie-downs, hangars or daily operations?”

The commission is scheduled to report to the board April 15.

The long-debated proposal to use about $5 million in federal funds to buy and expand the privately owned Agua Dulce Air Park took on renewed urgency recently. Airport owner Jim Annin wants to subdivide the 208-acre property into 10-acre lots for 19 single-family houses, prompting the board to order the commission’s report.

Pilots who use the airstrip say the county should buy it to prevent the 35-year-old facility from closing. But residents oppose that plan because they say it will bring unwanted noise and traffic into their rural community, where construction of houses on less than two acres is prohibited.

The Agua Dulce Air Park has been a source of contention since 1959 when three businessmen built it for their private use but soon tried to expand the number of planes housed there.

The city of Los Angeles leased it for nearly 10 years beginning in 1968 but eventually dropped plans to use it as an auxiliary to Van Nuys Airport because of community opposition.

Animosities were rekindled in 1986 when the county focused on the airstrip as the most feasible site for a general aviation airport in the Santa Clarita Valley.