Small-Plane Owners Get 1-Year Reprieve From Eviction

A group of Van Nuys Airport small-plane owners who faced eviction because of pending construction of a terminal and a large hangar will be allowed to stay at the airport for another year, airport officials decided Wednesday.

The move pleased not only the aircraft owners but nearby homeowners who prefer that valuable airport space be leased to small-plane owners rather than owners of noisier corporate jets.

Van Nuys Airport is owned by the Los Angeles Department of Airports and leases land to private firms.

Raleigh Jet Enterprises, which subleased eight acres of airport land, had received city approval to renovate a fueling area and construct a new terminal and hangar large enough to accommodate a wide variety of planes, including some levels of jets.

Construction of the facility on Valjean Avenue, between Hart Street and Sherman Way, is expected to begin within a month, so Raleigh officials issued eviction notices to about 30 airplane owners, said Joe McGuire, a Raleigh spokesman.

Under Wednesday’s decision by the Board of Airport Commissioners, the planes will be relocated to a section of the former National Guard site on the northwestern side of the airport for at least a year while officials study future development plans for the general aviation facility, said John Payne, president of the Van Nuys Hangar Assn.

“I’m very pleased that the board has found a solution, albeit temporary, to our problem,” Payne said. “Those members about to be displaced by the developers will now have a temporary home for a year.”

McGuire said: “We’re really in an agonizing position having to dislocate people. In order to comply with the lease, some of them have to be displaced. Our lease requires the leaseholder to invest capital.”

About 75 residents, members of homeowner groups and small-aircraft owners attended Wednesday’s board meeting at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys.

Many expressed support for the Van Nuys Hangar Assn. and voiced concerns about the overall future of the airport.

Since 1979, the number of small planes based at the airport has decreased significantly, while the number of jets has increased.

“We don’t want to see it turn into a solely commercial jet facility,” said Lee Alpert, chairman of the Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council, which supports the motion allowing the hangar. “We want to see it represent the community.”

The board’s decision pleased members of the community.

“We were totally in favor of them staying,” said Don Schultz, president of Ban Airport Noise. “For the community, it means that a group of small-aircraft owners are not being disenfranchised from this airport.”