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Letters to the Editor
(Created: Thursday, January 10, 2008 9:49 AM PST)
ARSAC asks residents to contact airport commission to oppose north expansion
To the Editor:
Last month the Board of Airport Commissioners showed its hand — it wants to expand Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) into Westchester/Playa del Rey.İThe commissioners need to hear from you now to not move the north runway into our community.
The Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion (ARSAC), is calling upon all Westchester, Playa del Rey and Playa Vista residents, business owners and other interested parties to contact the Board of Airport Commissioners to oppose LAX plans to move the north runway into Westchester/Playa del Rey.
The Board of Airport Commissioners will take up north runway safety issues at its meeting at 1:30 p.m. Monday, January 14th, at the LAX Administrative Building, 1 World Way, Los Angeles.
Validated parking is available in the LAX Terminal 1 parking garage for those who want to attend the meeting and speak.
Those who want to ask the commission not to move the north runway into Westchester/ Playa del Rey and cannot attend the meeting may write the Board of Airport Commissioners, 1 World Way, Los Angeles, CA 90045; call (310) 646-6263, fax (310) 646-1897 or e-mail lax boac@lawa.org
LAX has several proposals to move the north runway as far north as 1,000 feet into Westchester/Playa del Rey. This may mean the complete destruction of the Westchester Central Business District, the heart of our community,İto create a "clear zone" for a new runway.
We could lose all of our local shopping and dining from Sepulveda and Manchester south to LAX.İBusinesses such as In-N-Out Burger, Bank of America, Office Depot, Ralphs, Mervyns, TJ Maxx and IHOP could disappear forever.
Once again, our homes and businesses are threatened by more LAX expansion. We need our friends and neighbors to tell the airport commission "no" to destroying our community.
While we support a safe and secure LAX, there are other alternatives that LAX can pursue without moving a runway north into Westchester/Playa del Rey.
For the past five years, we have strongly recommended better runway/taxiway striping, lighting and signage, as well as the installation of enhanced ground radar and runway status lights to prevent runway incursions.
We also support a fully-staffed LAX control tower of experienced air traffic controllers.
All of our recommendations were validated by a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on runway safetyİreleased in December.İThe GAO report did not recommend increased runway separation as a solution to preventing runway incursions.
If an unbiased NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) runway safety study clearly demonstrates that increased runway separation is required, then LAX should move the inboard take-off runway further south.İThis will move aircraft noise and safety problems away from Westchester/Playa del Rey.
Westchester/Playa del Rey has already given a kidney for LAX in the form of over 4,400 homes in the late 1960s for the current north runway 24 Right, but we are not going to give up our heart.
ARSAC is recruiting volunteers and has "LAX Expansion NO!" signs available. More information on how to get involved can be obtained at www.regional solution.org/, or by writing to ARSAC, 322 Culver Blvd., PMB 231, Playa del Rey 90293, or calling Denny Schneider, (310) 641-4199.
Thank you in advance for helping ARSAC and protecting our community.
Denny Schneider, president, ARSAC
Robert Acherman, vice president, ARSAC
About Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion: Founded in 1995, ARSAC is a grassroots organization dedicated to opposing the expansion of LAX and supporting the expansion of outlying regional airports such as Ontario and Palmdale to meet Southern California's future airport capacity needs.
Says government has the 'responsibility' to provide off-leash areas for a million dogs
To the Editor:
Regarding the letter "Notes that it's bluff trespassers who 'encroach' — not Playa Vista" in the January 3rd issue of The Argonaut:
Dog owners wouldn't need to "encroach" on "forbidden" areas if government lived up to its responsibility of serving one of its largest groups of tax-paying constituents by providing more off-leash areas for the over one million dogs in Los Angeles.
This would include establishing the first off-leash dog beach, which over 60 other major municipalities in California currently enjoy.
In addition, it is absurd to think that walking a dog around the block can possibly give it the kind of exercise and interaction it requires to lead a long, healthy and happy life.
Daryl Barnett, Venice |
