LAX PASSENGER CAP REACHABLE AIRPORT CAN LIMIT AIR TRAFFIC BY NOT BUILDING NEW TERMINALS, REPORT SAYS.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

Limiting passenger traffic at LAX - a linchpin of Mayor James Hahn's security plan for the facility - can be accomplished by using only existing terminals rather than building new ones, according to a report issued Wednesday.

A five-page legal opinion from Los Angeles County Counsel Lloyd Pellman said the city should be able to cap the number of passengers at 78 million a year, part of Hahn's $10 billion plan to modernize LAX while developing new safety and anti-terrorism precautions.

``We look at it as indirect controls,'' said Principal Deputy County Counsel Richard Weiss. ``The federal government determines the number of flights that are allowed and (if) the airlines say they want to land more, they can't force Los Angeles to take action to accommodate them.

``We are not aware of anything that obligates Los Angeles to expand to meet other demands.''

Supervisor Don Knabe, whose district includes Los Angeles International Airport, asked the county counsel to analyze how the county could ensure there is no additional growth beyond the Hahn plan.

``We think this agrees with what the mayor has said,'' Deputy Mayor Matt Middlebrook said. `'We think limiting development is a way to keep a passenger cap in place.''

Hahn's plan, unveiled last July, proposes razing all parking structures in the central airport area and creating a ground transportation center two miles away, where passengers would be driven to and from the concourse.

A Rand analysis released last week blasted Hahn's plan, saying that having people congregate off-site could simply shift potential targets to the shuttles or parking areas.

The only aspect of the plan that could improve security would be the 78 million-passenger cap, which could reduce the prominence of LAX, the Rand report said.

Hahn aides have disputed the report, saying it failed to look at more than 8,000 pages of detailed plans regarding proposed security improvements.

The mayor's security plans are part of an overall effort to accommodate the need to modernize the facility, enhance security and reduce opposition by limiting its growth.