Community Corner
Community Coalition Urges City To Delay LAX Expansion Vote
Expansion plans call for a people mover, new roadways, new terminals and a new taxiway. It will also move northern runways 260 feet north.
A coalition of community and labor groups that fears the multi-billion dollar expansion and modernization of LAX would produce an explosion in traffic and air pollution says it will urge Los Angeles city leaders today to put off voting on the plan until June, when an air quality study of the project is released.
"They didn't complete the air quality study, they didn't present a full plan to the County of L.A., and they're trying to rubber-stamp this in their last months in office," said Denny Schneider of the Alliance for a Regional
Solution to Airport Congestion. "It's not fair to the affected communities or the region as a whole, to LAX workers, or the new (next) mayor and City Council."
Earlier this year, the city's airport commission signed off on the project, which includes moving a northern airfield 260 feet further north, into Westchester and Playa del Rey communities, to allow space for the new Airbus 380s jumbo airliners to land.
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The Planning and Land Use Management Committee and the Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee are scheduled to make their joint recommendation on the project at a special meeting this afternoon, when they are likely to hear a litany of objections to the long-debated project.
Opponents of LAX expansion demand that the city postpone votes on the plan until an air quality study of the project is released in June. The groups also want the city to give community members time to review the results of that study once it comes out.
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"Waiting a few more weeks for the study results before voting would respect the needs and wishes of Inglewood residents and those of neighboring communities," said former Inglewood Mayor Danny Tabor.
A labor union representing airport police has expressed worry that an increase in passenger traffic resulting from the airport's expansion will add pressure on an already understaffed department, while the SEIU-USWW, which represents 40,000 service workers at LAX, says it sympathizes with the project's opponents.
"As airport service workers, we recognize the current airport leadership has failed to take responsibility not only for addressing worker issues but also the broad ... impact of LAX on surrounding communities so we've decided to join forces," said Robin Wilson, member of the SEIU-USWW executive board airport division.
