“There is not a clear articulated vision of the direction where the City wants to see the airport going in the long term,” Austin told the council Tuesday. “And that has eroded confidence of many residents and impacted neighborhoods throughout the city that are truly looking at the interest of the stakeholders when it comes to decisions affecting the airport.”
Vice Mayor Rex Richardson and Councilmembers Lena Gonzalez and Roberto Uranga were not present for the vote.
The request to study the possibility of an airport master plan, however, comes just one week after community meetings have been conducted to discuss the latest feasibility study on the proposal to build a federal inspection service (FIS) facility, which would handle customs at the airport. That facility would be needed, however, only if the council ultimately approves the idea of international flights in the first place.
Changing the local municipal airport into an international one has met with some resistance. Many residents, particularly those who have joined neighborhood-advocacy group LB HUSH2, fear international flights are a threat to the City’s restrictive noise ordinance that took years to develop and protect.
While Austin was one of three councilmembers last year who voted against moving forward with studying the feasibility of developing the FIS at the airport, he did express concern over the lack of a master plan, but that suggestion brought a warning from the airport’s top executive.
Fifth District Councilmember Stacy Mungo asked Long Beach Airport Director Jess Romo about the risk to the noise ordinance and his experience with developing a plan, and he told the council that most master plans are usually developed when officials are contemplating the possibility of “adding capacity” to an airport.
“So, in that regard, if you were going to explore the 10 elements that make up a master plan, including airport capacity, ” Romo said Tuesday, “in my opinion, that does elevate the level of risk.” He deferred to the city attorney’s office on the amount of risk that would be.
Austin was not available for an interview after the council meeting, however, Jonathan Kraus, his chief of staff, was asked about Austin’s concerns about Romo’s statements Tuesday.
“I think that [Austin] wants to make sure that nothing that the City takes on would expand the flight capacity and further risk the noise ordinance,” Kraus said. “But he wants that standard applied consistently with all of the decisions that the city council makes.” Kraus noted that the city manager should vet those issues when he reports back to the council.
Former 8th-district councilmember and LB HUSH2 leader Rae Gabelich expressed that even pursuing a master plan would be “mistake” and asked that the councilmembers look at the history of the issues.
“We don’t want history repeating itself,” Gabelich said in a phone interview, as she warned that there is additional demand in flying.
The Signal Tribune contacted JetBlue Airways, the airline that has proposed to build the FIS facility to accommodate international flights, for its thoughts on the proposal for a master plan. Robert Land, who serves as the airline’s senior vice president of government affairs and associate general counsel, offered only one brief statement.
“After more than 18 months of waiting and a very extensive study which showed favorable impacts on the city,” Land wrote, “we are eager for the council to finally move forward with the long-delayed request for a federal inspection services (FIS) facility.”
