We are sending you this E-mail as you have requested to be notified concerning the Van Nuys airport
If you can't read HTML E-mail (you get a lot of extra charters i.e. <p> <b> etc.) send us a reply with plain as the subject The updates are also on the Van Nuys airport website If your friends want to be added to our E-mail list to be notified about meetings and issues please send an E-mail with Van Nuys airport as the subject. We have added links to data referred to in the stories [Our comments are in green]
The CAC meeting is tonight, for what ever that's worth ,LAWA ignores the CAC and the CAC ignores the public. Come and vent here if nothing else. The Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council meets the first Tuesday of each month at 7pm at the Aitel hotel in Van Nuys. The Next meeting is 8-3-99 and 9-7-99
We Asked LAWA Where the agendas and Minutes for the the Airport meetings are on their website. Here is their answer
Unfortunately, they are not available online. However, they are currently under
consideration for Phase II of our websites design. For agenda items or minutes, please
contact the Board Office directly at (310) 646-6263. If you have any other questions, feel
free to contact our Public Relations office directly at (310) 646-5260.
Ruben G. Gaviola Jr. ( LAX Public Affairs
It is obvious that the LAWA does not want the public to know what they are doing or have a record of what they did.
Aviation: Syncro could be replaced to meet high demand for hangar and parking space.
By MARTHA L. WILLMAN, Times Staff Writer
VAN NUYS Several non-aviation businesses could face eviction from Van Nuys Airport as the city's Board of Airport Commissioners attempts to deal with what officials say is a huge demand for hangar space and aircraft parking. The board is expected to vote today on proposals that would replace the ousted businesses with expanded airport operations.
Among those facing eviction are a company that converted a dilapidated World War II hangar into a popular filming studio, and Galpin Motors of North Hills, which stores a large number of new vehicles on airport land, city officials said.
Syncro Aircraft Interiors has battled for more than two years to stave off eviction after it became successful in renting out portions of its cavernous 3-acre hangar as sound stages. The company and airport officials in May negotiated an agreement that would allow Syncro and its filming enterprises to remain in the hangar under a 10-year lease, said Syncro attorney Douglas D. Winter. But the deal has not been finalized and requires approval of the airport commission.
Airport staff members recommended a new policy late last week that encourages greater aviation uses for the four airports owned by the city's Department of World Airports. Citing a letter from the Federal Aviation Administration, airports spokeswoman Nancy Castles said a newly reorganized administrative staff is working to improve aviation activities. The pending eviction of Syncro and other enterprises "has come to a point where it's a financial business decision," she said.
Proposals before commissioners today involving three hangars at Van Nuys Airport could trigger the eviction of several other tenants, including Galpin Motors, which leases airport land to store hundreds of vehicles in its inventory.
The commission meets at 9:30 a.m. in the administration building at Los Angeles International Airport, 1 World Way. The hangars and parking ramp areas "are public assets and we are obligated to maximize the assets at our city-owned properties," Castles said.
In a clarification letter from 1998, Castles said the FAA ordered that the Syncro hangars and others be used only for aviation purposes. "While [the FAA] did not specify exactly, we clearly understood that they have to stop shooting movies," she added. She could not explain why airport officials continued negotiating with Syncro for hangar repairs and a long-term lease after receiving the FAA letter, dated June 15, 1998.
The airport commission three months ago approved spending an additional $3.6 million on repairs to two hangars, called 901 and 902, which includes the Syncro operation and which were damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Commissioners in January 1998 approved without discussion $11.5 million in repairs to the two buildings, each the size of two football fields, and the most expensive project in the airport's history.
A portion of the additional repair cost was to be used to allow Syncro to continue its operations while reconstruction was underway. However, Castles said Syncro caused delays to the project, forcing the city to pay penalties to the reconstruction contractor. The construction contract, as well as agreements with Syncro, were terminated July 29, Castles said.
"It was just very, very upsetting," said Winter, attorney for Syncro owners Ed and Barbara Cesar. "We thought everything was finally going to be OK." Describing the months of negotiations, Winter added: "We've come so far, I thought, only to be put in a situation where, unfortunately, our offer is now being retracted." He indicated Syncro may have no recourse but to file suit.
Items on today's board agenda call for new leases and improvements to a hangar building and ramp space at 7501 Havenhurst Place and for the two massive hangars and ramp areas now partially leased to Syncro, at 7701 Woodley Ave. Both proposals cite "a demand for hangar and ramp space at Van Nuys Airport."
The proposed conversion of properties for aviation uses would prohibit the addition of any older, noisier jets at the airport other than those based there as of July 1. [But they can be replaced with the same noisy Stage 2 jets until 2006]
There is no limit on the number of newer, quieter jets that can be based at the airport, nor on the number of older aircraft flown into the airport for repairs and maintenance. [There also are no limits on Noisy stage 2 aircraft using Van Nuys as long as they do not spend more than 30 days overnight in a year]
Requests for more aviation-related space at Van Nuys have been made by a number of companies, such as manufacturers, FAA testing and certification and other aviation services, Castles said. Requests for proposals are typically advertised whenever an airport lease expires, she said. However, many tenants at Van Nuys have been operating on a month-to-month basis for years, because adoption of an airport master plan has been stalled for more than a decade.
By ROBERTO J. MANZANO
The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners has approved a plan to phase out noisy private jets at Van Nuys Airport over the next 11 years.
The action, which remains subject to approval by the City Council, would exempt [forever] from the rule about 50 so-called Stage 2 jets --primarily those built before 1985. But by 2010, all other jets operating at the airport would have to meet more stringent Stage 3 rules. The council is expected to consider the issue late next month. The board approved the rule at a meeting Wednesday night in Van Nuys.
Councilman Mike Feuer complained that under the rule, operators will have little incentive to replace exempted Stage 2 jets. "I'm very disappointed the commission didn't take steps available to provide real certainty to everyone and real relief to neighbors," Feuer said. "What the commission did is sort of backward."
"They allowed those there to stay forever and those are the noisiest ones," said Gerald A. Silver, president of Stop the Noise coalition. "There is no incentive to replace them."
John W. Olcott, president of the National Business Aviation Assn., also complained about the proposal, saying noise rules should be set by the federal government and not local airports. "We will aggressively oppose the decision for the group and do what is necessary to protect the operators at Van Nuys," Olcott said. "We feel this is a more of an anti-airport issue than a noise issue."
John J. Driscoll, executive director of the Los Angeles Department of World Airports, said the proposal is a good compromise and that the number of Stage 2 jets will decrease by attrition over time. "Two or three planes leave every year anyway," he said. "The communities now have a cap, and if you don't put a cap on it it's just going to get worse. Yet we are not destroying the largest employer in the Valley and an important economic engine." [Note there are thousands of firms employs more than airport companies]
Driscoll said it was important to not hurt the airport operators who have signed long-term leases to provide services or to provoke a law suit. Van Nuys Airport is the nation's busiest general aviation airport. "It's not immediate relief. If we did that, the FAA or the courts would not support our position. We have to try to balance the risk on this issue," Driscoll said. "It still gives the industry an opportunity to figure what it wants to do."
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