Officials Move to Stall LAX Overhaul

Los Angeles County officials took steps this week to delay Mayor James K. Hahn’s modernization plan for Los Angeles International Airport to force city officials to give in to demands to modify the plan.

The Board of Supervisors will consider a motion that directs the county counsel to sue Los Angeles after the City Council takes its final vote on Hahn’s $11-billion proposal Tuesday. The council, which signed off on the plan in a 12-3 vote on Oct. 20, is expected to approve the measure.

In a second action, an obscure county commission adopted a procedure Wednesday that would allow any public agency in the county to appeal the council’s decision, a process that could delay final approval for as long as five months.

If the commission, known as the Airport Land Use Commission, accepts such an appeal, the county maintains the council would have to muster a four-fifths vote.

The county is pursuing both avenues in a last-ditch attempt to stop the mayor’s plan, which it argues fails to limit growth at LAX and spread air traffic among the region’s airports. It also wants the city to eliminate the proposed passenger check-in center, which county officials contend would worsen traffic in Westchester, a community east of the airport.

“We’re just trying to protect our position and keep all our options open, should we not be able to negotiate and come to some resolution on the issues related to the consensus plan,” said Supervisor Don Knabe, who introduced the motion to be considered by supervisors Tuesday.

City officials say they haven’t ignored the county, adding that just last week they were working with the county to amend the mayor’s LAX modernization plan to address their concerns.

“Ever the eternal optimist, I would prefer there not be a suit and that we try to work things out,” said Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who devised a plan that would postpone the most controversial elements of the mayor’s proposal to a second phase. “If the county wants to sue, they can sue; that’s a straight-up act.”

The councilwoman said however, that the move by the county’s Airport Land Use Commission to institute an appeals process was “very convoluted and weird, and it’s a little transparent.”

If it were successful, such an appeal could postpone the council’s final vote on the plan past the March election for mayor and council.

Attorneys representing the city’s airport agency said that the commission was overstepping its authority and the appeal process was redundant because the commission has already voted on the plan.

The commission ruled in August that Hahn’s LAX plan would create more noise and safety risks in nearby communities, making it inconsistent with a 1991 county land-use plan. Under state law, the council had to muster a 10-vote supermajority to override this finding.

County planners argue that state law gives the commission the option to consider appeals.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which is required to sign off on the mayor’s plan after the council’s final vote this month, said it would not delay its decision, which is expected to come early next year.

“As far as we’re concerned, nothing has changed with regard to our timeline,” said Donn Walker, an FAA spokesman.