City, groups to target possible JWA lawsuit
June Casagrande
NEWPORT BEACH -- City officials are optimistic that a meeting with
representatives of the Airport Working Group and Stop Polluting Our
Newport will create an alliance to extend flight restrictions at John
Wayne Airport.
One of the first jobs of the fledgling alliance will be a preemptive
strike to stop a lawsuit by airlines wanting to expand the airport.
City Manager Homer Bludau met last week with representatives of the
two groups to discuss extending the 1985 settlement agreement that limits
flights and expansion at John Wayne Airport. Since the Orange County
Board of Supervisors approved a plan earlier this year to extend the
settlement agreement, getting the approval of the two groups has loomed
as the next and most crucial step in extending the restrictions.
As signatories to the original flight cap deal, they must approve the
extension for it to be maintained.
“This was about opening up communication between the three groups,”
Bludau said. “We need to make sure that the communications between us are
the best they can be.”
Both groups have said they will support the extension, but this
support won’t be official until the parties sign off on the deal.
The original 1985 agreement puts an 8.4 million cap on the number of
passenger flights at the airport each year. It allowed the addition of
only 73 of the noisiest flights each year, and the addition of four cargo
flights and 14 flight gates.
Later, two more cargo flights were added. The plan approved by the
supervisors, which Newport Beach also backed, would allow the airport to
grow to 9.8 million passengers each year, and add 85 of the noisiest
flights, four cargo flights and 18 flight gates.
Since Measure W’s success at the polls March 5 dealt a blow to plans
to build an airport at El Toro, Newport Beach officials have pinned most
of their hopes on extending the settlement agreement as a way to insulate
residents from noise, pollution and the other nuisances posed by a
growing commercial airport at John Wayne.
However, the Airline Transport Assn. has threatened to sue to stop the
extension of the settlement agreement. In hopes of deflating such a
lawsuit before it’s even filed, the members of the new alliance are
considering approaching the Federal Aviation Administration to get its
input on details of the settlement agreement extension. The
administration governs many airport-related decisions and could be the
determining factor in whether a lawsuit by the airlines would be
successful.
“It isn’t signed yet, so negotiation is sure possible,” said Allan
Beek, a Stop Polluting Our Newport member who attended the meeting. “If
we go to the FAA before we make the final agreement, it could be the best
way to get a favorable response from the FAA.”
* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)
574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 june.casagrande@latimes.comf7 .
QUESTION
PUSHING THE LIMITS
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