Mr. Hill has made a number of errors in his letter urging the Los Alamitos City Council to overrule the Airport Land Use Commissions’ 5-1 vote that found three sites zoned for residential development adjacent to the Joint Force Military Training Base to be incompatible with the Base’s operations and public safety.
First, I quote Mr. Hill:
“ALUC is simply a referral committee, not an authority (least of all an expert) on airport land usage”
Of the 5 board members serving: Mark Monin and Stephen F. Beverburg hold professional Class C pilot licenses. Mr. Alan Murphy is the Manager of Operations at John Wayne Airport. Schelly Sustarsic is on the Seal Beach City Council, and the Chair Mr. Gerald Bresnahan, a vice president of California Research Tabulation, is the son of the Robert Bresnahan, the first manager of Orange County Airport in 1968. When Robert Bresnahan arrived in Orange County, the airport handled a total of 66,500 passengers. By 1978, the year of his departure, the facility— designed to handle only 400,000 passengers per year— passed the 2 million mark. Airport use is in the Chairman’s blood. The Executive Director Lea U. Choum, has 17 years as a planning manager at John Wayne Airport.
All in all, it is reasonable to conclude that these Commission Members and their Executive Director are far more qualified as experts on airport land use than Mr. Hill or any member of the Los Alamitos City Council.
Second, the Commission is not trivial “referral service.”
The Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) is governed by the California Public Utilities Code Section 21670 and has a basic responsibility to assist local agencies in ensuring compatible land uses in the vicinity of all airports in the County. The ALUC reviews land use proposals near civilian and military airports and other land use issues which have a potential impact on airport operations. The ALUC strives to protect the public from adverse effects of aircraft noise, ensure that people and facilities are not concentrated in areas susceptible to aircraft incidents and to ensure that no structure or land use activities adversely affect the operational integrity of the airports or their navigable airspace
The Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos is one of three regional Office of Emergency Services facilities declared by the Governor’s Office. It is critical for disaster management. It is critical that flight operations are maintained free from interference of encroaching development.
The 375 page Airport Environs Land Use Plan for the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos is chalked full of rules and regulations that Mr. Hill may not have had the time to read before demeaning the qualifications of the Commission and its Executive Officer.
https://files.ocair.com/media/2021-02/JFTB,LosAlamitos-AELUP2017.pdf?VersionId=jhDzARCp3ECzHQ6jiMzrb06mM5H0Nv89
Daniel Brandt
Public Safety Employee
Seal Beach
