Politics & Government
Town Hall Meeting Planned in Opposition of LAX Expansion
Residents are angry over Tuesday's City Council vote in favor of the airport expansion.
Local residents plan to meet this weekend to express their disapproval with plans to expand LAX.
The Los Angeles City Council voted on Tuesday in favor of a $4.8 billion plan to expand the airport and also modernize it. The project would move the airport’s north runway 260 feet closer to Westchester and Playa del Rey.
Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who described himself as "very disappointed" with Tuesday's vote, said the focus should be on “regionalism” and employing the use of the LA/Ontario International Airport.
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“It’s better for everybody if we spread out where planes land,” Rosendahl said. “It’s insane to clog up LAX and clog up Westchester and Playa del Rey when, in fact, the jumbo jets belong in Ontario. So it’s not over yet.”
Denny Schneider, president of the Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion, or ARSAC, agreed. He is concerned about safety issues, including increased pollution and noise in the area as well as the impact on local residents and businesses, he said.
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"The impacts on the local areas are just potentially devastating," Schneider said. "I have severe disappointment that our elected officials are so gullible.”
ARSAC, who is joining forces with the SEIU and other organizations at this weekend’s town hall meeting, now plans to file a lawsuit, according to Schneider. He said they have no choice.
“I don’t want to do that,” Schneider said. “I would much rather fix the airport, and I’m really angry that our last settlement did not result in fixing the airport.”
That settlement was filed in 2006 against the expansion of LAX. Schneider said “there is no one that’s opposed to fixing the airport,” but he describes the plans to expand the airport as a “lose-lose situation.”
Rosendahl is also ready to sue, if necessary.
“If we have to we will sue and shut the whole, damn thing down again which I don’t want to do,” Rosendahl said. “I want to modernize LAX.”
The town hall meeting is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, at the Westchester Senior Citizen Center at 8740 Lincoln Blvd. More information is available at ReachingHigherTogetherAtLAX.org.
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