Van Nuys Airport Study Gets OK

After 12 years of trying to devise a new land-use plan for Van Nuys Airport, the Los Angeles Airport Commission voted unanimously Monday to ask city planners to review the latest proposal.

“This is a big step,” said Coby King, president of the Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council. “This is a community effort.”

Seeking to balance private jet operations, propeller aircraft and other uses, the city put forward 14 alternatives, with scenarios ranging from developing all of the airport’s land for aviation use to closing the airfield.

The option chosen Monday by the Board of Airport Commissioners, Alternative J, dedicates 36 acres to propeller aircraft and outlines where other tenants, including commercial and light industrial operations, would be located.

In addition, the airport agency promised to consider setting aside an additional 14 acres elsewhere at the 730-acre airfield for propeller planes. The more lucrative and louder jet operations have threatened to displace the propeller planes at the airport.

The plan was devised by the citizens advisory panel in collaboration with airport-area residents and airport tenants.

The tenants and representatives from some residents groups told the commission that Alternative J was acceptable because it would provide for smaller airplanes and would also cut down on noise from private jets.

The compromise “provided the critical impetus to overcome the inertia that’s been plaguing this process for so long,” King said.

Other residents opposed moving the plan forward, saying it doesn’t ensure that propeller jets won’t be forced out by private jet operations that can afford to pay higher rents and maintenance fees, increasing noise in communities around the airport.

“There’s far from a consensus on this matter,” said Gerald A. Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino.

The plan was endorsed by Councilman Tony Cardenas, who represents the area, and Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski.

After city planners review the plan, the airport and planning commissions will vote on it. The proposal will head to the full council next fall.