Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority v. City of Los Angeles

• Decision Date: 17 November 1992
• Docket Number: Nos. 90-56144,BURBANK-GLENDALE-PASADENA,91-55175,s. 90-56144
• Parties: AIRPORT AUTHORITY, a Joint Powers Agency, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES, a California Municipal Corporation, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 1338

979 F.2d 1338

BURBANK-GLENDALE-PASADENA

AIRPORT AUTHORITY, a Joint

Powers Agency, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES, a California Municipal Corporation,

Defendant-Appellant.

Nos. 90-56144, 91-55175.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted Aug. 17, 1992.

Memorandum Sept. 23, 1992.

Order and Opinion Nov. 17, 1992.

Gwendolyn R. Poindexter, City Attorney's Office, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellant.

Richard K. Simon, McDermott, Will & Emery, Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Before NORRIS, REINHARDT, and TROTT, Circuit Judges.

ORDER

The memorandum disposition, filed September 23, 1992, is redesignated an authored opinion by Judge Norris.

OPINION

WILLIAM A. NORRIS, Circuit Judge:

Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport ("the Airport") sued the City of Los Angeles to enjoin enforcement of a City ordinance requiring prior submission and approval of any plans for development on a parcel of Airport land that is used exclusively for airplane landings and takeoffs. The district court granted a preliminary injunction and then summary judgment in favor of the Burbank Airport, holding that the ordinance was preempted under federal law. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.

I

The ordinance at issue applies exclusively to a 54-acre parcel of land owned by the Burbank Airport and located within the jurisdiction of the City of Los Angeles. When this lawsuit was filed, this parcel of land contained the northern portion of the Airport's main north-south runway and an associated taxiway (Taxiway A) which runs parallel to this runway on the east side and extends all the way to the runway's northernmost end. At that time, the parallel taxiway on the west side of the runway (Taxiway B) stopped short of the runway's northern end, terminating right at the edge of the Los Angeles boundary. This deficiency in Taxiway B posed a safety risk because it forced all aircraft approaching from the western part of the Airport to cross over the runway at its midpoint in order to begin their takeoffs from the north end of the runway.

In 1985, the Burbank Airport began to seek initial approval for a plan to lengthen Taxiway B so that it would extend all the way to the northern end of the north-south runway. This taxiway extension project was expected to produce significant safety improvements as well as noise benefits.

On June 12, 1990, right before construction was to begin on the taxiway extension project, the Los Angeles City Council enacted Ordinance No. 165, 972 ("the Ordinance"), which required the Airport to submit every proposed development project--specifically including runway and taxiway construction and reconstruction--to the City Planning Commission for prior review and approval. The Ordinance provided, in pertinent part, that:

"Prior to the issuance of any building or use permit or certificate of occupancy for any project, or the construction or reconstruction of runways or taxiways, a complete and detailed development plan indicating the exterior boundaries of the property, the location of all buildings, driveways, service road, maintenance areas, accessways, parkway areas, taxiways runways, enclosing fixtures, landscaping, etc., shall be submitted to and approved by the City Planning Commission pursuant to the following provisions and procedures:

"A. The City Planning Commission shall have the authority to approve such development plan if it finds: (i) that the proposed development will be desirable to the public convenience or welfare, and (ii) that the proposed development will be in harmony with the objectives and intent of the Sun Valley Community Plan, and (iii) that the proposed development will not have an adverse impact on existing or planned development in the vicinity.

"B. The Commission shall determine that all adverse environmental impacts of such development including, but not limited to air quality, noise, water quality and traffic generation have been mitigated to a level of insignificance.

"C. The Commission may impose such conditions as it deems necessary to secure an appropriate development in harmony with the objectives and intent of the Sun Valley Community Plan...."

Ordinance No. 165, 972 (emphasis added).

The Ordinance was adopted on an emergency basis and was made effective immediately upon publication because, in the words of the Ordinance, such regulation was "required for the immediate protection of the public peace, health and safety. This Ordinance will prevent potentially irreversible and incompatible development in the Glendale-Pasadena-Burbank Airport area." Id.

Burbank Airport filed this action on June 29, 1990, seeking a...