Hahn’s Plan for LAX May Face New Hurdle

A ruling released Wednesday by the staff of an obscure Los Angeles County commission raises the prospect that Mayor James K. Hahn will need to win over a supermajority on the City Council to pass his $9-billion modernization plan for Los Angeles International Airport.

County planners concluded in a 15-page report that Hahn’s proposal would expose nearby communities to more noise and safety risks, making it inconsistent with the county’s Airport Land Use Plan.

If the county’s Airport Land Use Commission upholds this position, the City Council will have to muster extra votes to approve the mayor’s plan when it reaches City Hall this fall. There’s some uncertainty, however, about whether state law requires 10 votes, or 12 votes, on the 15-member council to override the commission.

The commission, which is required by state law to ensure that master plans drafted by the region’s airports comply with the county’s Airport Land Use Plan, will hold its first hearing on Hahn’s plan Monday and will vote on the proposal Aug. 25. The commission’s vote is the second step in the long review process. The plan was approved by the city’s airport and planning commissions in June.

The Airport Land Use Commission’s decision could set up a battle between the city and the county over how to remake the world’s fifth-busiest airport. The commission’s five members, who also make up the county’s Regional Planning Commission, are appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The supervisors have repeatedly voiced concerns with Hahn’s plan.

“This gives us a better opportunity to present our case than we were given at the public hearing process,” said Supervisor Don Knabe, who represents communities around LAX. “It puts the plan in a situation where they definitely have to listen to a bunch of folks because it’s going to take 10 votes at the City Council to come up with a final plan.”

City officials disagreed with the finding by county planners, saying the mayor’s plan includes measures that would mitigate additional noise, traffic, air pollution and other issues.

“The mayor is appreciative of the time and effort that county staff put into the document,” said Elizabeth Kaltman, a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office. “It’s unfortunate that they’re using a 13-year-old land-use document to analyze the master plan. Many issues raised by the report, like the noise impacts, will be improved by the modernization plan.”

County planners asserted in the staff report that by moving the airport’s two sets of parallel runways farther apart, Hahn’s plan would expose communities surrounding the airport to more noise and safety risks than are allowed in the county’s 1991 Airport Land Use Plan.

Two elementary schools, one high school and 1,823 residential units would be exposed to more noise than allowed, planners wrote. In addition, several buildings, including a hospital, would fall into “runway protection zones,” placing more residents at risk because arriving aircraft would be closer to these buildings, according to the report. If the commission concludes that Hahn’s plan is inconsistent with the county’s Airport Land Use Plan, it could slow the progress his proposal is making through various boards and commissions. The council would be forced to vote to override the commission in two votes six weeks apart -- which could extend the debate into the heat of the mayoral campaign.

Supporters of a compromise LAX plan by Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski that moves the most controversial elements of Hahn’s proposal to a later phase said a “no” vote by the Airport Land Use Commission would not present a roadblock for the mayor’s proposal.

“It’s not an insurmountable hurdle,” Miscikowski said. “Although obviously it’s a little bit more work.”