It loses $4 million a year. Neighbors call it the “Van Noise Airport.” And there is plenty of opposition to seeing it get any bigger an all-too-familiar sentiment and a potential hornet’s nest, especially if the decades-long battle in Burbank over noise, traffic, expansion and curfew issues is any indication. But representatives of Valley VOTE, the group pushing for San Fernando Valley secession, say they want the 730-acre Van Nuys Airport, now owned and operated by the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), for their very own. Why? It’s all about local control, the driving force behind the push for secession in the first place. But in the initial Secession Feasibility Study, compiled and released by the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) in March, secession advocates were told that intricate FAA regulations and bond repayment schedules meant the airport could not be transferred to a new Valley city. “Phooey,” said Valley VOTE representatives and sent their attorneys digging for ways to prove LAFCO wrong. And, in fact, Valley VOTE Chairman Richard Close said representatives from his group met with FAA officials in Washington D.C. earlier this month and were told transfer of the airport was, indeed, do-able. But there are caveats. LAFCO, not Valley VOTE or even LAWA, has the authority to say who gets to keep the airport, and there is a possibility the agency could decline to hand it over to a new Valley city. LAFCO could decide to leave it in the hands of LAWA, or create a framework for some form of joint operation, similar to the way the Burbank Airport is run, by a commission made up of representatives from the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena. According to Close, Valley VOTE would not ask for joint control of LAX and the other airports operated by LAWA Ontario International and Palmdale Regional if they are granted permission to own and operate the Van Nuys Airport. “It is our belief that the airport can be and should be transferred,” said Close. “Why? Because it’s an economic spark plug for the Valley. But we would be willing to share the responsibility under a joint organization if LAFCO decides not to give it to the Valley.” But should their request to keep Van Nuys be rejected, they will opt for joint ownership and operation of all four airports. According to an economic impact study released in 1999, the airport contributes roughly $1.2 billion annually to the Southern California economy. It is financed completely by revenue from leases and user fees, and generates just over $73 million in state and local taxes annually. Regardless of whether LAFCO grants the new Valley city ownership of the Van Nuys Airport, or should it reject a joint authority for the other facilities, Valley VOTE would still want to receive credit for its share of the revenues generated from LAX and the other regional assets, Close said. That money, said Close, would be applied to the $68-million annual subsidy Los Angeles says the new Valley city would be required to pay for its rights to break away. “Obviously, we don’t have control over what LAFCO will do with regard to the airport,” said Close. “But we think we are still entitled to receive credit for those assets, one way or another.” Close said local control of the airport would make nearby homeowners and activists who have long pushed for noise and traffic mitigation programs feel better. “The airport causes noise problems in the Valley, and therefore the new Valley city council and mayor should control it,” said Close. Gerald A. Silver, president of the Homeowners of Encino, agreed. He said citizen concerns over the years about traffic, curfews, land expansion and aircraft noise have generally fallen on deaf ears because LAWA representatives are too far removed to care. “We would favor the idea of the airport being separated from LAWA,” said Silver. “The people on the commission who make all the decisions don’t even live near the Van Nuys airport. So, in a sense, it’s not even being treated like a stepchild, it’s more like an acquaintance at great distance.” Silver is also president of a group called “Stop the Noise,” a coalition of about 30 homeowners’ associations and the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club. And what does the airport think of the idea? Too soon to say, says Gail Gaddi, spokeswoman for LAWA. “What I gather from our executive offices, we think it’s premature to answer these questions, or to give a definite stand on the issue,” she said. “Right now the city council and the mayor of Los Angeles are taking a lead on this issue and we will follow whatever they decide.” But again, it won’t be up to the city council or mayor. It is LAFCO’s job to first decide who should get the airport, then whether to put the secession issue on the ballot in 2002. And, should the issue reach the ballot, the voters would take it from there. The Van Nuys Airport, which opened in 1928 as the Metropolitan Airport, is ranked as the world’s busiest general aviation airport according to LAWA. It was purchased by the city of Los Angeles from the U.S. Army for $1 in 1949. And despite the revenue it generates, including cash from the roughly 100 local businesses that pay rent to LAWA including Home Depot and the Airtel Plaza Hotel & Conference Center it still loses money. “If you think about it, $4 million for an airport is really not that big of a number,” said Valley VOTE President Jeff Brain. “And anyway, the Van Nuys Airport Association has said that they believe that figure could be easily turned around under more local control.”
