Chino accepts role in airport land use planning process

Chino will join Ontario and four other cities in shaping a plan to ensure compatible land use around Ontario International Airport, the city council decided.

The council voted unanimously at its May 1 meeting to participate in an airport land use compatibility plan to guide the region's growth relative to the airport for 20 years.

The vote, during the regular council session, followed an information-only workshop presented by Ontario planning director Jerry Blum, a former City of Chino employee.

The airport serves 4.5 million passengers a year, Mr. Blum said, but is projected to grow to 30 million annual passengers in 20 years.

The compatibility plan will cover policies to cope with noise, overflight notification, safety and airspace protection that will help guide land use and development within the airport influence area, which includes portions of Chino.

Other cities participating in the plan are Rancho Cucamonga, Montclair, Fontana and Upland. Riverside and San Bernardino counties also are participants, along with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), which operates Ontario International.

Compatibility plans typically are the responsibility of the county airport authority, Mr. Blum said, but state law allows an alternative method by which local jurisdictions produce the plan. In 1995, San Bernardino County opted to pursue that alternative, he added.

Participation will require the city to amend its general plan to comply with the compatibility plan, Mr. Blum said.

Councilwoman Eunice Ulloa said she wants to ensure that aircraft follow major streets for safety paths rather than deviating over neighborhoods. Mrs. Ulloa said she lives in the northern part of the city, within the airport influence area, and "it's loud now."

Mayor Dennis Yates said runway configuration, specifically the proposed south runway, is "the only thing in our cross-hairs," Mr. Yates said.

The current runways can accommodate projected growth only up to 19 million annual passengers, Mr. Blum said. Runway reconfiguration, however, is not part of the compatibility plan, he said. Runways will be included in a master plan and environmental review by LAWA and FAA, he explained.