By ELLIOT SPAGAT staff Writer
3-95 Agua Dulce Airpark owners will resurface the runway and make other, improvements, only three months after winning permission to use the land for residential development.
The airport will remain open partly because the California real estate market is depressed, the owners said. The announcement follows predictions from flying enthusiasts that the single-runway airport would close.
The county Regional Planning Commission approved plans in January to split the 190 acres in the center of town into 10-acre residential lots.
Agua Dulce voters opposed Los Angeles County's efforts to buy the airport by a 2-to-1 margin in a March advisory referendum. The county Board of Supervisors last week heeded the election results and decided to end 12 years of negotiations.
Airpark owner Jim Annin had said homes would replace the airport if the county broke off negotiations. "It's going to a residential development;" he said shortly before the March 7 vote.
But now he says the runway is expected to be resurfaced in three or four weeks. The owners are negotiating with a company to manage daily operations and make the airport profitable "any way they can.
The airport said it is studying improvements to the water system and it may offer fuel service. Community organizations, aviation groups and the entertainment industry will be allowed to rent the airport.
County Aviation Commissioner Clyde Bailey welcomed the news but said there are no guarantees the airport would remain open. The airport has some potential because it is near movie-filming sites, he said.
Stewart Aleshire, an 85-year-old pilot who campaigned for the county to buy the airport, was more skeptical. Eventually, the airport will close, he said. "Annin changes his mind seven days a week and twice on Sunday" he said.