Ledford: Airport not for Palmdale

To avoid sending the message such a facility is wanted, Palmdale sent no representatives on Wednesday to a gathering in El Segundo of those allied against the expansion of Los Angeles International Airport.

Palmdale also declined to attend because it does not want to appear to be in conflict with Los Angeles World Airports, the department that operates LAX as well as the airports in Palmdale, Van Nuys and Ontario, Ledford said.

Palmdale's absence raised the ire of Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter and County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who represents Antelope Valley.

Both oppose L.A. World Airports' plan to expand LAX while ignoring outlying airfields such as those in the Antelope Valley area of Antonovich's 5th District.

"We were wondering why Palmdale, which was at the forefront of the whole (anti-LAX) movement, now has taken a back seat," Galanter spokeswoman Niki Tennant said Friday.

Palmdale officials have been asking Los Angeles for help "for 30 years, and the department has put them off for 30 years saying, `It's not the right time.' Well, now is the right time," Tennant said.

Palmdale officials "now stand to gain a lot if the department of airports decides to help other airports expand," she said. "Now is when to push, when the support for a truly regional plan is hot."

On Wednesday, Galanter and others - representatives of about 65 Southern California cities and transportation agencies - espoused their continued opposition to expansion of LAX and support for shifting air traffic to other cities.

None of those gathered on Wednesday voiced support for construction of an international airport in Palmdale, Tennant said. In fact, she has been trying to defuse the false rumor Galanter wants to close LAX and relocate the entire facility to Palmdale, she said.

Neither rumor is true, Tennant said. "We just don't want (LAX) doubled - we don't want any more neighborhoods taken out; we don't want any more air pollution or traffic congestion or air safety problems that a doubling of the size of the current airport would bring, when other areas are asking for their airports to be developed to handle future air capacity needs."

Antonovich said he was mystified by Palmdale's "no show" and apparent turnabout on the issue.

"If we are to be successful, everybody has to be involved," he said.

Asked about Palmdale's stand, Ledford said, "Our position is that we want to work with L.A.'s department of airports, not oppose it."

Those attending Wednesday's gathering "for a long time called for an international airport component to be built in Palmdale, and that is an idea we don't share," he said.

Building such a facility on 17,470 acres of vacant land owned by L.A. World Airports east of U.S. Air Force Plant 42 "would jeopardize the presence of the Air Force at Plant 42 and the contractors now situated at Plant 42, so we're talking about the loss of jobs and the loss of the Air Force," the mayor said.

However, Palmdale does support an expansion of operations at Plant 42, which is allowed under a joint-use agreement between L.A. World Airports and the Air Force, he said.

Expanding those operations up to the maximum 400 flights a day would allow the city to relieve some burden at LAX and add local service, while retaining the Air Force and major aircraft companies such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, Ledford said.

"We believe that's something both the proponents of regional expansion and the opponents of LAX expansion could support," he said.

Working through an Antelope Valley committee established by Antonovich nearly a year ago, Palmdale is asking L.A. World Airports to support:

installation of a cargo ramp allowing Palmdale Regional Airport to handle some goods now shipped through LAX;

construction of a transportation hub near Sierra Highway and Avenue P-8 centralizing rail, bus, van, car-pool, ride-share and taxi services;

dedication of land for an Avenue P-8 freeway to link the transport hub and Valley freeway traffic with Palmdale Regional Airport;

routing of a high-speed rail line through Palmdale to bring new potential air passengers to Palmdale Regional; and

annexation by Palmdale of land owned by L.A. World Airports between Plant 42 and 50th Street East, making it possible for the city to offer redevelopment and economic development aid to airport-linked companies locating on the property.

The goal is to increase air activity in Palmdale "through infrastructural improvements and transportation connections to the L.A. basin," Ledford said.

The city learned its lesson from past losses of several commuterflight services, he said. "We need a transportation system in place so when people say, `Let's use Palmdale,' they can get here quickly."

To get that system in place, "We're working through Antonovich's own committee," Ledford said. Palmdale's hope is the committee can agree to support the same five goals,

"Once those goals have been endorsed, then we will be prepared to step forward and go to the City Council of L.A., the (L.A. World Airports) board of Airport Commissioners, and the Board of Supervisors," the mayor said. "But there are still people out there promoting the international airport (in Palmdale).

"That may be in their best interest, but it's not in ours," he said. "We do not want to see (Plant 42) jeopardized. The impact to the Antelope Valley is too great."

At the February meeting of his committee, "we seemed to be on the same wavelength," Antonovich said. "When it's Palmdale on the site, and they are not working on it, it just harms the effort.

"Who benefits but LAX? It's just a step backward," he said.

If Palmdale fails to support efforts to increase air services at outlying airfields, the city may be left out if those services are apportioned under a new plan, Antonovich said.

According to a release issued by Galanter on Wednesday's gathering, anticipated growth in north Los Angeles County will leave it with the greatest need for increased air service compared to the rest of L.A. County, west Riverside County, San Bernardino County and the Coachella Valley.

Because of that growth, "Palmdale airport will be far closer to these population centers than LAX or even Burbank (airport)," the release stated. "This airport can serve passengers and cargo needs of the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley as well.

"High-speed rail, should it occur and connect to Palmdale airport, will clearly expand their potential marketplace," it said.

"To us, expanding LAX is the wrong answer to the right question: How should Southern California capture the growth in the air commerce marketplace over the next 20 years?" Mike Gordon, mayor of El Segundo and a primary organizer of Wednesday's protest against LAX expansion, stated.

"It makes no sense to concentrate both the burdens and opportunities of that growth at LAX when a majority of growth . . . is in the Inland Empire and north Los Angeles County," Gordon said.

Gordon and other mayors at the gathering, as well as Los Angeles Congresswoman Maxine Waters, called for development of a plan that would disperse air traffic to several facilities, including the former Norton and George Air Force bases in San Bernardino County, the former March Air Force Base in Riverside County, and the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in Orange County, plus existing airports at Palm Springs, Irvine, Ontario, Long Beach, Burbank and Palmdale.

In Ledford's opinion, those who gathered on Wednesday "are still defining their own agenda," which only recently shifted from dumping LAX's excess primarily on Palmdale to apportioning it regionally.

"They haven't coalesced their own agenda yet. We have," he said.

"With those groups still defining their agenda, that could spell not only confusion to a lot of people, but it also could spell an adversarial position that could block our opportunity," he said. "We think our agenda will counter why this facility has not lived up to its promise."

Plans for LAX's expansion, made at the behest of L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, foresee construction of a new 6-million-square-foot passenger terminal, which would more than double the airport's current 2,100 flights a day.

The new terminal would be served by new runways and a new expressway leading to and from the San Diego Freeway. The expansion, which will cost an estimated $10 billion, also increases air and land traffic congestion as well as air and noise pollution for Los Angeles and cities adjacent to and under the flight paths of LAX aircraft.

The expansion also would mean a continuation, and possibly amplification, of inconveniences for Southern Californians forced to drive for hours to access domestic and international flights concentrated at LAX.

Valley Press Editor Dennis Anderson contributed to this story.