Supervisors Seek a Voice in LAX Plans

Saying that the proposed expansion of Los Angeles International Airport is “troubling,” the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday demanded a voice in the city’s plans to enlarge the overcrowded facility.

The board also urged the city to develop a regional approach to anticipated growth in air traffic that would siphon some activity from LAX to smaller airports.

“L.A. city has turned a deaf ear on the other 87 cities in L.A. County about this,” alleged county Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who had asked the board to go even further and place a measure on the November ballot requiring that regional airports be included in any expansion of LAX.

The board declined to go that far, but the supervisors voted unanimously to oppose any expansion plan that includes only LAX itself.

“They’ve got to bring us to the table,” said Supervisor Don Knabe, whose district includes the airport and small nearby cities and who introduced the motion to call for a regional plan. “If not, I’m ready to oppose this whole thing.”

A regional approach, Knabe said, would include expanding not only Ontario and Palmdale airports, which are owned by Los Angeles, but perhaps Long Beach or a future airport at El Toro, in Orange County, as well.

But such ideas run smack up against a systemic problem likely to stymie efforts for a broad-ranging plan: There is no regional regulatory body with responsibility for developing appropriate air traffic.

To date, decisions about expansion or development of airports have been made for the most part by the cities in which they are located without consideration or control over airports in other cities or in unincorporated areas.

That means Los Angeles has been left to decide on its own what kind of facilities to build, typically doing so without input from or regard for other municipalities.

To begin addressing that problem, the supervisors decided Tuesday to set up a countywide task force that would include representatives from the California League of Cities and every county department.

But that would still not bind any city to participate in a regional plan and it would not involve representatives of nearby counties, such as Orange County, that might logically be included in one.

“You can set up task forces until the cows come home,” said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who represents the area around LAX and opposes the current expansion plan. “The question is who is going to build what at their airports.”

Galanter, who testified Tuesday in favor of Antonovich’s plan for a referendum, nonetheless welcomed the supervisors’ entrance into the discussion.

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, a staunch supporter of LAX expansion, welcomed input from the county’s task force but would not comment on whether the county would be included in the city’s panel overseeing the proposal, said his spokeswoman, Noelia Rodriguez.

Rodriguez stressed that the mayor’s vision includes increasing traffic at Ontario and Palmdale airports.

“LAX would be a key player, but it wouldn’t be the only player in the new system,” Rodriguez said. “The bottom line is that for Los Angeles to remain competitive in the 21st century, LAX has to expand. But so do other airports in the region.”