Pilots and residents showed a united front to defend a Torrance, California, airport after a concerning alternative land use study threatened its closure. However, airport operations and noise still divide the community.
In a January 23 meeting, the Torrance city council voted 5-1 (with one abstention) to ban touch-and-goes and restrict back taxis and low approaches at Zamperini Field.
AOPA is deeply concerned about this new action, as well as past actions taken by the city, to restrict airport operations and what it will mean for the safety and efficiency of surrounding airports due to increased operations and congestion. In a letter to Torrance city attorney Patrick Sullivan, AOPA cited how this ordinance conflicts with the FAA’s exclusive authority to regulate these airport operations and all matters of aviation safety.
“[Zamperini Field] is part of the national aviation system, and the ordinance contemplated today is not only illegal, but it would also shift flights to neighboring airports in the region,” the letter states. “To avoid the waste of taxpayer funds in defending actions that are federally preempted and that will require significant financial and staff resources to litigate law that is already well settled, the City should not pass the proposed ordinance.”
Although escalations of recent noise disputes may divide opinions, it is obvious that all involved understand the economic benefits and public services the airport brings to the community. During the same Torrance city council meeting on January 23, the council voted 6-1 to defer action on a land use study that would have threatened the future of Zamperini Field.
AOPA will continue to advocate for aviation safety and monitor the ongoing situation at the field.
