City seeks to exploit land near Plant 42

The Palmdale City Council will consider the annexation today in hopes of attracting an aerospace company that will equal or rival that of SR Technics America Ltd., which is expected to create 5,000 to 6,000 jobs in the Valley by 2004.

If approved by Los Angeles County, the annexation would bring into the city's boundaries 4,545 acres east of the Palmdale Regional Airport that is owned by the city of Los Angeles.

The land lies within the boundaries of the state-approved enterprise zone, an area in which businesses can obtain state tax credits for certain employee hires and equipment investments.

Bringing the property into the city limits would allow Palmdale's Community Redevelopment Agency to provide additional financial incentives to prospective businesses, Mayor Jim Ledford said Tuesday.

The move, if successful, will help usher in a new era of cooperation between Palmdale and Los Angeles in terms of developing a portion of the 17,500 acres L.A.'s airports department owns in and around Air Force Plant 42, Ledford said.

Development of the relationship between the two cities "was really the big story of last year," the mayor said.

That relationship was key to SR Technics' decision to buy Site 9, a vacant, 1 million-square-foot facility owned by The Boeing Co., he said.

SR Technics is the heavy maintenance arm of SAirGroup.

The company will overhaul and maintain aircraft at its Palmdale facility, as well as convert passenger jets for cargo use. Some of the planes will belong to SAirGroup, but the company will seek similar work from other carriers as well.

Because of Los Angeles' commitment to working with Palmdale, that city agreed to put up $10 million to $12 million for a fire-suppression system needed to make Boeing's facility acceptable to SR Technics for its aircraft maintenance and refurbishment business.

That business is expected to generate between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs for residents of the Antelope Valley, with salaries averaging an estimated $59,000 per year.

Now that Site 9 is taken, other aircraft-oriented companies interested in operating at or near Plant 42 will have to build new facilities, Ledford said.

Interest in helping such companies build, along with a desire to retain SR Technics and BAE Systems - another international aircraft company operating on county land near Plant 42 - is driving the push for annexation, he said.

Other firms, including one "equal to the size" of SR Technics, have indicated a willingness to construct facilities on the land, Ledford said.

"There's a couple (companies) we have talked to in the past and continue to talk to today that certainly are interested in assistance from the city of Palmdale," the mayor said, declining to name them.

"We have a pretty good opportunity to play a pivotal role as far as economic development ... and developing a land-use relationship with the city of Los Angeles," he said. "Annexation will put us in a better position to assist."

Larry Grooms, president of the Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance, said Wednesday he is aware of at least two interested aerospace companies.

"I can tell you there are at least two companies out there that would be equal to or bigger than the SR Technics thing," Grooms said. "One of these has been cooking now for at least two or three years," referring to talks between the city, or economic development personnel and these companies.

Large companies spend a lot of time planning their moves, according to Grooms. "We can't divulge the names of these companies until something happens."

An immediate effect of bringing the land into the city's boundaries would be the termination of a county-imposed 10% surcharge on utility services, he added.

The City Council also will consider an agreement that would garner additional property-tax revenue from the county as the result of a proposed annexation of 34.5 acres along Sixth Street East between avenues P-12 and P-15.

The council is annexing the land for the construction of a Metrolink station, portions of which could be ready for use by summertime, Ledford said.

The station would be the first step in building a multimodal transportation hub intended to serve as a center for passengers using airplanes, trains, buses, commuter vans, taxis, car pools and other forms of public transportation.

The hub would be near a new leg of the Antelope Valley Freeway, planned along Avenue P-8.

The council will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan 5. in its chambers, 708 East Palmdale Blvd.