Torrance Learns U.S. Has No More Claim on Airport

In 1948, when the federal government gave Torrance an airport, a deed restriction said the land had to remain an airport or revert to the government.

Eight years later, however, the federal government gave up its right to reclaim the land or restrict its use. But Torrance officials didn’t notice the change--and federal officials chose not to tell them.

“Since Torrance is apparently unaware of this, I see no reason to educate them,” wrote Ned K. Zartman, former regional counsel for the Federal Aviation Administration, in a 1968 memo.

But now the local officials have been educated, thanks to City Atty. Stanley E. Remelmeyer, who researched the airport deed and released his findings this week.

“It’s quite a revelation,” said Mayor Katy Geissert.

As subdivisions grew up around it, the airport has spawned complaints of noise and fears of crashes. Some neighbors have called for the airport to be closed, and officials have imposed restrictions on noise and hours of operation. About 825 planes are based at the airport, which is in South Torrance.

Councilman Tim Mock said the City Council “very briefly” discussed closing the airport in a closed session after reading Remelmeyer’s report, but “the consensus was we’re not going to take steps to close the airport. . . . It’s a valuable asset to the community as long as it’s controlled within the bounds of noise levels and safety.”

City officials said they believe the opinion will rekindle differences between homeowners surrounding the airport--who have frequently complained about the noise--and area pilots who have been upset by flight restrictions imposed by the City Council.

In 1982, the Torrance Area Pilots Assn. actually filed a complaint with the FAA alleging that restrictions placed on the airport by the council violated the 1948 deed and asked the FAA to repossess the airport.

“It certainly will lead,” Councilman Dan Walker said of the recent discovery, “to perhaps more interesting conversations about the airport, our noise regulations (and) the leverage that the pilots and the (airport) operators have with dealing with the city.”

Quitclaim Deed

In 1948, the city obtained a quitclaim deed for about 500 acres, including the airport, through the War Assets Administration. The federal government retained ownership of the northern runway, known as the Lomita Flight Strip, but allowed the city to use it, according to Remelmeyer’s report.

The 1948 deed contained five pages of restrictions, most notably that the property had to “be used for public airport purposes, and only for such purposes,” the report said. The federal government reserved the right to take back the land if any of the restrictions were violated.

In 1956, the federal government gave the city another deed, which, until recently, city officials believed only gave them the Lomita Flight Strip. But Remelmeyer discovered that the 1956 deed “is free of any requirement to use the property for public airport purposes and of any other restrictions and conditions.”

‘Never Suspected It’

The city never knew what it had, Remelmeyer said in an interview. “I never suspected it.”

The federal government did reserve the right of exploration and excavation for uranium and other fissionable materials, known as an AEC license.

Remelmeyer used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the 1968 memo in which former FAA regional counsel Zartman agreed: “The 1956 deed conveyed the fee and extinguished all prior conditions and reservations set out in the 1948 deed, except the AEC license. However, since Torrance is apparently unaware of this, I see no reason to educate them.”

“I think the federal government was misleading us in terms of what we could and could not do with the airport,” Mock said. “It doesn’t make me too trusting of the federal government.”