LAX Plan Receives Bad Reviews

After an extended public comment period on Mayor James K. Hahn’s $9-billion plan to modernize Los Angeles International Airport, the verdict is in, and it’s not good for the mayor.

With the exception of a few political allies, some business groups near the airport, several airlines and labor unions that would stand to gain from the massive public works project, the vast majority of those offering opinions oppose Hahn’s plan.

Among the chief criticisms as the four-month public comment period drew to a close Friday: It would be too expensive and would fail to make the airport more secure, limit its capacity or protect the environment and neighboring communities.

Influential skeptics include most airlines, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. and El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon, a proponent of regional airport planning who led the opposition to LAX expansion plans developed by Hahn’s predecessor, Mayor Richard Riordan.

“This does not augur well for the future of this plan,” said Steven Erie, a UC San Diego political science professor who studies the region’s infrastructure. “This should be a warning shot across the mayor’s bow that they need to go back to the drawing board and redo this.”

The mayor’s office disagrees that Hahn’s proposal, known as Alternative D, faces major political hurdles, and says that it plans to focus on the fact that there is a consensus that something needs to be done to modernize the aging airport.

“We’re pretty excited,” said Deputy Mayor Troy Edwards. “For the first time in 10 years, it seems a coalition of supporters is taking shape to urge the modernization of LAX.”

By law, the city must answer the 2,000 written comments and suggestions made by 1,275 people who attended 12 public hearings in a final report, which is scheduled to be released next spring. But it does not need to change Hahn’s plan to reflect those concerns.

Ultimately, the comments, many drafted by independent experts in various disciplines, are likely to influence whether the City Council and the Federal Aviation Administration decide to give the project approval to proceed next year.

The council and the FAA will choose from among Hahn’s plan and several expansion plans proposed by Riordan, or could decide to do nothing at all.

“To the extent that we can determine that they’re valid and independent, they definitely will have weight in my deliberations,” Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa said of the public comments.

The mounting opposition to Hahn’s plan illustrates how difficult it is to reach a consensus on updating the 75-year-old airport. The city has spent $116 million and 10 years trying to develop a politically palatable plan. The last time LAX received a face-lift was in preparation for the 1984 Olympics.

Hahn’s plan would dramatically rework the airport by demolishing Terminals 1, 2 and 3, moving two sets of parallel runways farther apart to install center taxiways, knocking down parking garages in the central terminal area and replacing them with a new terminal complex, and building a passenger check-in facility near the San Diego Freeway.

Businesses that surround the airport applauded the mayor’s efforts, saying Hahn’s LAX plan would help revitalize many shops, hotels and restaurants that rely on travelers.

“Alternative D does a better job responding to the needs of the Century corridor than other master plan alternatives that have been prepared,” wrote Grant Coonley, president of Gateway to L.A., a group that represents businesses near LAX.

But even those who support the plan continue to have questions about how it would be implemented.

Several groups, including airlines and the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., have suggested slimmed-down versions of Hahn’s plan that would focus on a few safety and convenience upgrades, such as separating the south runways and building a consolidated rental car facility and a system of FlyAway bus centers, but that would abandon big-ticket enhancements such as a remote check-in center.

Hahn has shown reluctance to compromise. “Ultimately, all elements of the plan will be built,” the deputy mayor said.

Many of those who filed comments also asked Hahn to beef up measures in the plan to mitigate its impacts on noise, air pollution, traffic and the environment.

“The loss of habitat for jackrabbits, loggerhead shrikes and western spadefoot toads constitutes a significant impact because the losses would appreciably diminish the ranges of these rare species,” wrote Travis Longcore and Catherine Rich of Land Protection Partners.

“LAX supports the only population of jackrabbits in West Los Angeles and, indeed, in most of the Los Angeles Basin.”

Since he introduced it two years ago in the weeks following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Hahn has tried to sell his plan as a way to make LAX more secure.

The mayor also proposed constraining growth at LAX by limiting the number of aircraft gates in hopes of forcing carriers to move service to other regional facilities.

But many of the public comments argue that the plan would not achieve either goal.

Hahn’s renovation would make passengers and airport employees more vulnerable to a terrorist attack by spreading them out among several facilities and an elevated people mover, said Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), citing a report she commissioned from the Rand Corp. earlier this year.

Most airlines at LAX agree with Harman, and say they are also concerned that Hahn’s proposed changes in the way people arrive at LAX would prompt passengers, particularly lucrative business travelers, to use other facilities.

“Eliminating close-in parking, prohibiting curbside check-in and forcing almost all traffic to the remote [ground transportation center] or [intermodal transportation center] will make it harder for passengers and their families, who, in addition to navigating surface streets to LAX, will have to ride a people mover some two miles to and from their flight,” wrote the Air Transport Assn. and the Los Angeles Airlines Airport Affairs Committee.

“Further, it is likely that departing passengers will have to check their bags in the [central terminal area], as well as claim them in the [central terminal area] upon arrival, making their passenger experience even more uncomfortable.”

In a 47-page executive summary filed Thursday, consultants hired by Gordon, the El Segundo mayor, contend that Hahn’s plan would allow LAX to expand to at least 87 million annual passengers.

“In order for Alternative D to fulfill its stated purpose of retaining capacity at 78 million annual passengers, significant revisions, including a reduction in the number of gates, would be required,” wrote Christy H. Taylor, an attorney with Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger.

The report was a significant departure for Gordon, who persuaded Hahn to sign a pledge when he was campaigning for office in the summer of 2001 that he would constrain growth at LAX. Since then, the mayor’s office has spent considerable time and money trying to convince Gordon that Hahn’s plan follows through on the pledge.

In an interview Friday, Gordon said he doesn’t believe the mayor is going back on his word, but added that if Hahn doesn’t revise his plan, Gordon will openly oppose it.

Written comments filed with the city’s airport agency also contend that although Hahn’s proposal would cost about $9 billion to build, it would provide no discernible benefit for the local economy beyond the short-term jobs created during construction.

“Given our state’s fiscal challenges, it does not seem prudent to spend $9 billion and plan for no growth in our regional and local economy,” the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. wrote in an eight-page position paper. “This is not the model for a good investment program.”

Economic studies conducted by the city found that after the mayor’s plan was constructed, LAX would contribute about $64 billion a year to the region’s economy by 2015 -- about the same amount it would generate if no project were completed.

That could cause a destructive ripple effect across the region, leading to the loss of jobs and prompting airlines to take service to airports in Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Francisco, economic experts argue.

“What’s at stake here is the equivalent of a half million jobs if we don’t meet the growth needs for both passengers and cargo,” said Lee Harrington, president of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “We are concerned about the way this plan is put together.”