Note this is adapted from a PowerPoint presentation with was made to Antonivich and staff at a 6-16-24 meeting and the Agua Dulce Town Council at its 6-22-04 meeting by Ron Bird
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Agua Dulce Airport Concerns
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Agua Dulce Airport
The Issues
The Community Frustration
Recent Safety Issues
The County Response
The Airport is Not My Grandfather
A Brief History of the Airpark Permits
The Airport’s Future and Ours
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The Community's Frustration
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An Aerobatic take off with smoke trail (oil added to the exhaust manifold)
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Recent Safety Issues
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New tie down area
Built without permit over a blue-line stream and has vehicle access issues.
No
CEQA review.
Parts of the new tie down area are outside the airport boundaries (see 1404)
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Agua Dulce Airport – Hangers Under Construction
The 10 New Hangers are within 250 feet of the runway centerline which is a restricted transitional area. Revised Exhibit A states they have a max height of 17.5'. Calculations based on FAA FAR Part 77 rules indicate maximum height is less than 18’.
They are advertised as having a 28’ height and look to be 28’ high. Thus, it looks like they violate FAA transitional airspace rules! The side door in the picture is a standard (7') door. It is believed that there is a slight rise in the terrain that would add even more height to the buildings from the runway.
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Agua Dulce Airport - the obstacle free zone (OFZ) Safety
The OFZ is 250 feet wide centered on the runway. This incursion occurred on May 5, 2004. Also noticed on that date, a quad racing on the taxiway.
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Is this a fun day at the park?
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This fun day with kids from the Agua Dulce school occurred on May 8, 2004 in the OFZ between the active runway and the active taxiway. The proposed soccer fields are in the Runway Protection Zone (RPZ) .
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The County Response
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Warnings and Violations by the County (past 12 months)
Allowing Aerobatic flying (repeated violations)
Not applying for special event TUPs (repeated violations)
TUP required safety not followed (no barricades at Demolition Derby)
Alcohol served without an ABC permit
Food served without a Health Dept permit and as 6-19-04 no permit was listed on the county
data base
Construction of a swimming pool without a permit
Selling health club memberships
Violating signage ordinance
Illegal grading
With this violation history, should this owner be trusted to host a safe fireworks event in an extreme fire hazard area?
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Community Dissatisfaction with County Actions
A more proactive approach needs to be taken
Faster actions taken
Demolition Derby in September – violation letter in January
Be more open about the actions taken
January violation letter not made public until May
Take more definitive actions
Work was never stopped on the new tie down area, no new permit was required, only a plot plan requested.
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More Community Dissatisfaction with County Actions
Lack of follow up on projects and complaints
Hangers have 17.5' max height on plot plan, but being sold as 28' high hangers
Consultation by the coubtyu with outside agencies and public is imperative
Does a building and safety engineer know how high a hanger can be and do they
inspect for violation of FAA rules?
Airport expansion is not ministerial but requires public notice and public
hearings
This airport lacks any type of master plan
Plans are not being conveyed to the public
Proper planning will benefit all parties involved
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NOISE – in an otherwise quiet neighborhood
DUST – is an environmental hazard
Helicopters and helicopter training
Large twin engine turbo-jet planes
Small noisy older aircraft
Aircraft that do not follow the traffic pattern
All aircraft that “play” around the area flying low, lingering and looping around town like a wino next to a liquor store
Community concerns about the aircraft traffic
Recent Sweetwater Farms rules require that shelf space be limited to 4%; no ads in windows; no single can sales,
or airline bottles for liquor.
Other airports have instituted extreme noise abatement procedures.
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Helicopters and dust and noise
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The Airport Is Not My Grandfather
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Is this approach too high?
The location of Agua Dulce Elementary School creates a natural tendency to fly over the school because of the terrain and direction pilots travel to get back to Los Angeles. We will illustrate the proper traffic pattern on a subsequent slide.
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No as Bob is standing on level ground
The topography violates the Federal 20:1 rule! Note the topography around the runway is bowl shaped. This not only provides terrain that encroaches on navigable airspace, but also causes the aircraft sound to reverberate and to be magnified.
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The designated approach and takeoff patterns for the Airport.
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South ridge violates the 7:1 rule!
Top of this portion of the ridge is 200 feet tall at a distance of 1/8th of a mile.
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LA County Airport Land Use Commission Statement
The airport is located on a site with limited expansion potential. Also, recent development pressures in the Agua Dulce area have resulted in many questions concerning the continued operation of this airport.
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A Brief History of the Airport Permits
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Airport Permits
1958 – SP 1352 establishes the airport. Due to community concerns a
20 plane limit is set.
Airport use sunsets in 1968.
1959 – SP 1404 modifies some conditions of SP 1352. Allows for larger planes
and a longer runway.
20 plane limit removal requested but denied by the Regional Planning Commission.
1964 – SP 1570 modifies SP 1352 and SP 1404 Again 20 plane
limit removal was requested, but denied (1570 specifically reiterates this 20 plane limit).
1570 Lapsed by county due to non-use (would have expired in 1970).
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More Airport Permits
1968 – SP 1352 lapses County Council issues letter that no valid permits
exist as Airport leased to the City of Los Angeles – they do not need a County
permit.
1980’s – County Council issues opinion that 1404 is now the only valid permit.
1980 – 2000: Airport just gets by and has very little traffic and few
complaints.
2000 -- Airport is sold, facilities “improved”, traffic greatly increases.
2003 – Continued noise complaints and continued traffic increase County
Council issues opinion that since 1404 does not explicitly state a plane limit,
there is no limit.
2004 – Residents wonder how we got to this point.
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An Airport That Was frequently Closed to the Public
Starting August 1992 – closed Monday to Friday.
December 1992 -De-listed
in the the FAA Facility Directory February.
1993 – State suspends public use
portion of permit for rest of year.
Jan 6, 1994 – Mar 3, 1994 – listed as
open, but closed to transients M-F.
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April 28, 1994 – Aug 18, 1994 – listed as CLOSED INDEFINITELY
Oct 13,
1994 – Mar 30, 1995 – listed as open again.
May 25, 1995 – Jan 4, 1996 –
listed as CLOSED INDEFINITELY.
Jan 4, 1996 – Dec 30 1999 – listed as open
with landing fee.
Pilots yelled at for landing at a closed airport during this
period.
No Notice to Airman (NOTAMS), but big X,s on runway during this period.
NOTE: this closed airport generated few residential complaints during these periods.
Airport café closed from January 1993 to this year.
No aviation fuel was sold throughout the 1990’s.
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The current Airport plan the State Division of Aeronautics has on file is an old LA County concept plan.
Map does not match what the County submitted in the EIR in 1984 Implies LA County approval for this map and the state permit now requires that “the airport is to be maintained in accordance with … and plans dated December 1983”.
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The Airport’s Future and Ours