Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Public Vote on Air Park’s Future Backed : Agua Dulce: County board authorizes non-binding measure on expanding the tiny airport or risk losing it for the March 7 ballot.

A referendum that could settle the future of Agua Dulce Airpark by allowing residents to decide whether to expand the tiny airport or risk losing it was approved Tuesday by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

The air park issue will be on the ballot March 7 during regularly scheduled local elections as a non-binding measure.

But if Agua Dulce voters overwhelmingly reject the idea of ownership by the county--which has in the past favored expansion of the facility--the county will abide by that decision, said Dave Vanatta, an aide to Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who represents the area.

“If it’s a clear (majority), we’ll leave it alone, . . . but if it’s 51% to 49%, I don’t know what we’d do,” Vanatta said.

The future of the airport has been a divisive issue in Agua Dulce for nearly a decade and became even more contentious earlier this year when its owner announced his intention to build single-family homes on the 208-acre site.

Many of those who favor purchase by the county are pilots who live in the area and use the facility. Other supporters say the air park is an asset in case the area is struck by another earthquake.

But many of Agua Dulce’s 2,100 residents are concerned that a county-run airport would increase noise and traffic in their bucolic community.

Twice in the past decade, public opinion polls have shown the town’s residents opposed to an expanded air park by as much as a 3-to-1 margin.

But Ted Gustin, chief of the aviation division in the county’s Department of Public Works, said those polls left too much open to interpretation.

“A lot of people really thought it was going to be another Burbank (Airport),” he said. “So this time, we’re going to try to keep (the question) as simple as we can.”

The exact language of the measure will be determined after holding meetings with Aqua Dulce residents, Vanatta said.

The air park has been controversial since three businessmen built it for their private use in 1959 and, later, tried to expand it.

The city of Los Angeles leased the facility for 10 years beginning in 1968, but scrapped plans to use it as an auxiliary to Van Nuys Airport because of community opposition.

In other action affecting the Santa Clarita Valley area, the supervisors Tuesday approved the environmental impact report for a 1,544-home development north of Santa Clarita and appropriated $30,000 for improvements at Castaic Lake State Recreation Area.