WILL PLAN FOR LAX FLY AT COUNCIL?

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

Setting the stage for a showdown vote today on the future of Los Angeles International Airport, supporters and opponents of Mayor James Hahn's $11 billion modernization and expansion plan battled Tuesday before the City Council over its impact on safety and traffic, and the high cost.

The City Council, set to debate and vote on the controversial plan today, listened as an overflow crowd tangled over pros and cons. The vote is the first step in an involved process that will have to come back to the council in December for final action.

Mayor James Hahn led a parade of speakers urging the council to support a so-called compromise that would approve the whole plan but break it into two phases. The first phase is the broadly supported green-light projects, costing $3 billion. The second phase is the yellow-light projects, valued at $8 billion, that are bitterly contested and would require further study before construction begins.

``We have the opportunity to move forward to make a significantly safer and better LAX,'' Hahn said. ``Work at LAX is long overdue. We have an opportunity now to take steps to make sure that LAX remains a world-class airport and continues to be the vital economic engine that it is for the region.''

Ten years and more than $130 million in the making, the plan would allow for expansion to 79 million passengers a year - a figure disputed by opponents - and lead to improvement of airport facilities and redesign of runways to make flying safer.

Business groups and unions strongly back the plan but dozens of cities in the surrounding area, Los Angeles County and beyond strongly oppose the plan, particularly phase two, which includes building a single off-site arrival-departure center. They argue that approval by the council of the whole plan is illegal and will lead to lawsuits.

``As far as we are concerned, this project is our No. 1 priority,'' said Miguel Contreras, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Contreras also is a Hahn appointee on the Airport Commission, and trade unions would benefit greatly from the construction jobs.

If only the first-stage green-light projects are approved, Contreras and other labor officials estimate it would create 12,000 jobs. Projects in this group include runway improvements, a transit project from the Green Line to the airport, improvements at the Tom Bradley International Terminal and a consolidated rental-car facility.

Contreras indicated that the labor organization will be closely watching how council members - as well as mayoral candidates - up for election next March 8 cast their ballot on the issue.

``We will be holding meetings soon on endorsements and this will come up as an issue,'' Contreras said, noting that eight seats on the council are to be decided in the election.

However, three mayoral candidates - two of whom sit on the council - appeared at a news conference to protest the proposal as developed by Hahn and his ally, Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski.

Councilmen Antonio Villaraigosa and Bernard Parks as well as state Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, urged the council to reject the plan to have further studies along with seeing the completion of a Rand Corp. analysis of security needs.

``I have always been a friend of labor and still will be,'' said Villaraigosa, who was endorsed by the labor organization against Hahn in 2001. ``But I have concerns over how the costs of this project have grown and if it will limit growth.

``Three years ago, Jim Hahn and I signed a pledge with the people of the area that we would not support expansion of LAX. I keep my promises.''

Villaraigosa tried to ask Hahn questions directly during the council meeting, but was thwarted in his efforts.

Later Tuesday, Villaraigosa sent a letter to Hahn asking the mayor to be at today's session to respond to questions. Hahn aides said they would not comment on the request.

Parks, who has developed his own proposal for LAX that has been endorsed by the county Board of Supervisors, urged the council to delay action.

``We should not rush into approving this plan,'' Parks said. ``It is not a consensus of the community. This plan neglects the public concerns regarding the future of LAX and fails to address community, land use, environmental and security issues.''

Alarcon called the plan ``half-baked'' and in need of further study so leaders can develop a regional approach to air traffic.

Parks said he and Villaraigosa are considering a proposal that would ask the state to create a new regional airport authority to take jurisdiction over airport development.

Also appearing to oppose the development was Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, who said her district and her home are under the flight path for LAX.

Waters said she could not support a plan that contains elements such as those in the yellow-light phase, including a ground transportation center in the Manchester Square area.

``There is no such thing as being a little bit pregnant,'' Waters said. ``If the council approves the so-called consensus plan, the ground transportation center will be built.''

In a related action, the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday adopted a call to the Federal Aviation Administration to delay its approval of the proposal.

However, Miscikowski has said any delay now could lead to a requirement that a new environmental study be conducted - a process that could take more than three years.

Miscikowski said she hopes at today's debate to be able to stress the process that will have to be used for any of the yellow-light projects to go ahead.

``I hope to be able to get people to focus on the fact that yellow light means that separate environmental studies will have to be conducted, that whoever is mayor and whoever is sitting on the City Council in the future will have the power to say yes or no to these projects,'' Miscikowski said.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to ask the FAA to postpone approval of the LAX plan until local governments complete their reviews and consider legal remedies.

``We need to make sure that everything locally has been done before the FAA reviews the plan,'' said John Musella, spokesman for board Chairman Don Knabe. ``Why should we waste federal tax dollars for the FAA to review a plan that may or may not stand up in court?''

FAA spokesman Dan Walker said the agency is reviewing the plan to determine what impact it will have on surrounding communities.

``The city is planning on getting federal money from the FAA for this project,'' Walker said. ``Our role is to review the plan and decide whether to help fund this.''

Staff Writer Troy Anderson contributed to this report.

Rick Orlov, [phone]

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Union workers line up outside City Hall on Tuesday to support Mayor James Hahn's proposed $11 billion modernization and expansion of Los Angeles International Airport.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

(2) no caption (LAX sign)

Daily News

Box:

AIRPORT MODERNIZATION

Source: Los Angeles World Airports