No to Palmdale Airport

In response to your Sept. 5 editorial, and Richard Schumacher’s Sept. 8 letter, lauding the idea of an “uncontroversial” international airport in Palmdale: As a resident of Palmdale, let me be the first to say that such a proposal is far from “uncontroversial.” The residents of Palmdale are still trying to balance public safety with over-population and over-development. An international airport is the last thing on our minds. An international airport servicing 78 million passengers a year is just ludicrous.

I moved to Palmdale to get away from the claustrophobia, high housing costs, traffic and rampant blight of L.A. -- so did many others in the Antelope Valley. Now, you are telling me that there is a possibility that as I sit by my pool and enjoy the desert climate, I’ll have to endure 747s flying over my house, one after the other, as they descend to the “state-of-the-art Palmdale International Airport”?

I might as well move to El Segundo.

When residents of Palmdale learn that their rural “dusty desert outpost” might become a large metropolis with an international airport, they will vote the idea right out of the Antelope Valley and back to the Los Angeles Airport Commission’s drawing board. Palmdale’s “friendly skies” are off limits!

Craig Tappa

East Palmdale

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Besides Palmdale, there is one other location that could easily accommodate an airport, relieve congestion at both LAX and San Diego airports and provide direct rail service from Santa Barbara to San Diego: Camp Pendleton. It is so big and far enough away from all communities that jet noise would not be an issue. Landings and takeoffs would be toward the ocean. There is an existing two-track rail line for commuter travel that goes directly through Camp Pendleton.

With some major revamping of the existing line, and the cooperation of a few cities and towns, the rail line could easily be upgraded to 125/150-mph trains, using existing technology. That would translate into a 40-minute ride from L.A. and 20-minute ride from San Diego. There are numerous stations along the train route.

Dennis Arntz

Laguna Niguel