LEADERS HAIL LAX UPGRADE DEAL CITY AGREES TO LIMIT GROWTH SO FACILITY WILL SERVE NO MORE THAN 78.9 MILLION PASSENGERS A YEAR.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

With departing and arriving jets as a backdrop, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, leaders of a grass-roots group, and state and federal officials Thursday hailed as historic a proposed deal to allow a Los Angeles International Airport modernization plan to proceed.

The proposed agreement - terms of which were announced Wednesday and which still needs approval by local jurisdictions and the Federal Aviation Administration - is a key factor in ending a flurry of lawsuits that have blocked the 12-year-old effort to upgrade LAX.

``What we are saying is that Los Angeles will no longer be the big elephant dominating everyone around here,'' Villaraigosa said. ``We will be working as a partner on a regional approach to modernizing this airport and making it safer.''

Under terms of the agreement, the city promised to limit airport growth so the facility serves no more than 78.9 million passengers a year. It will do so by redesigning the airport, giving groups a greater voice in upgrading the airport, and dropping some of the more controversial elements of the original plan.

``What we have been seeking is a way to constrain growth at the airport,'' said El Segundo Mayor Kelly McDowell. ``We are confident we have that.''

Opponents of LAX modernization, in turn, would drop lawsuits that were the original work of a group of residents who created an organization called Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion.

The group first fought proposals by former Mayor Richard Riordan that would have boosted airport traffic to 100 million passengers a year.

``They told us when we started that we couldn't fight LAX and win,'' ARSAC president Jennifer Dakoske Kosfu. ``We proved them wrong.''

Also hailing the agreement were longtime critics Democratic Reps. Maxine Waters and Jane Harman. Both praised Villaraigosa's efforts to change the plan that had been approved by the City Council and developed by former Mayor James Hahn.

``During the election, this man told me his No. 1 issue was my No. 1 issue - changing the plan for Los Angeles International Airport,'' said Waters, who endorsed Villaraigosa in the election.

Likewise, Harman said she was pleased that Villaraigosa had agreed to bring on the Rand think tank for a new security study and promised to take steps to improve passenger safety at the facility.

If the plan gets final approval by all parties, Villaraigosa said the first project will be to widen the southern runways to improve airline safety.

The plan calls for limiting the number of passengers by redesigning the airport to close 10 gates by 2015, and requiring further study of some of the more disputed aspects of the original master plan - such as a ground transportation center, a people mover and razing of Terminals 1, 2 and 3, to be replaced with a new concourse.

The settlement, however, would allow plans for a new Western Satellite Concourse - at an estimated cost of $1.6 billion - and for work to proceed on a new baggage-handling facility.

Los Angeles also agreed to speed payments totaling $266 million for noise- and traffic-mitigation projects in neighboring cities, paying the money in 10 years rather than the 15 years originally envisioned.

In addition, there would be a separate community-benefits program valued at $500 million that would provide jobs and training as well as mitigation projects.

A working group of officials would be formed to develop plans to increase use of the Ontario and Palmdale airports, including transportation improvements, and eight Park and Ride flyaway operations would be established around the county.

Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt Dorn said one of the most important aspects of the agreement is that Los Angeles showed it is willing to work with neighboring cities that bear the brunt of traffic and noise problems from LAX.

Los Angeles Councilman Tony Cardenas, who chairs the council's Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee that oversees LAX, said he was pleased that the agreement requires City Council approval for all aspects of the modernization plan.

Rick Orlov, [phone]

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com