LA County to fold Cable Airport mapping into county land-use plan as Claremont residents raise noise and development concerns

Clark Taylor, senior planner with the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning, said Tuesday evening that the county will add a Cable Airport land-use compatibility appendix to the countywide Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan so areas of Claremont affected by Cable Airport overflights are covered by county guidance. "We really have no say and no ability to influence the airport operations," Taylor said, adding that the ALUCP deals with land uses outside airport boundaries rather than operations inside them.

Marika Armstrong, project manager for consultant Mead & Hunt, outlined the four factors that guide airport compatibility planning — safety, noise, overflight and airspace protection — and said the county is using the Cable Airport map adopted by the city of Upland in 2015 as a starting point for the LA-side analysis. The presentation showed noise contours developed from a historical forecast (60,000 operations with a higher forecast up to 103,000 by 2030) used to shape zone boundaries; Armstrong said those forecasts inform contours but are not an approval of that many annual flights.

Residents and local officials at the Claremont meeting pressed the county on what would change for properties in affected zones. Brad Johnson, the city’s community development director, said Claremont asked the county to act so the city can avoid repeated, contentious referrals and give clearer guidance to developers. "The city is the proud owner now of the 7 acres" on Foothill Boulevard, Johnson said, noting the city’s aim is clarity about allowable uses for vacant parcels near the airport.

Residents recounted repeated noisy overflights and questioned whether pilots follow the airport’s noise-abatement procedures. Jennifer Jaffe, who said she lives near Foothill and Mills, told the meeting: "They do not turn at the end of the runway and head south. They are over my neighborhood and other people's neighborhoods quite a bit." County and consultant staff responded that flight paths and pilot behavior are matters for the airport operator or the Federal Aviation Administration, and that the ALUCP is an advisory land‑use tool.

Consultant staff and county planners also clarified that the ALUCP will not retroactively change already-permitted projects that have exhausted local discretionary review. Ken Brody of Mead & Hunt said the plan primarily governs future development intensity within mapped zones and provides criteria the city can incorporate so compliant projects need not be referred to the county ALUC.

Bob Cable, president and CEO of Cable Airport Incorporated, described the county action as "housekeeping" and urged residents to report tail numbers for problematic aircraft based at the airport. He told attendees that the World War II–era activity some residents described has moved to Texas and that the airport’s practical operations capacity is far below the 103,000 forecast, saying "our realistic number really is less than 40,000 operations a year." Cable offered his email for follow-up questions.

County staff said the next steps include drafting the LA-side ALUCP text and maps, releasing the draft for public review, preparing a CEQA document and then presenting the plan at an ALUC adoption hearing. Residents asked the county to post slides and the recorded presentation online; county staff agreed to make materials available and invited written comments as the draft is circulated.

The meeting ended with staff urging attendees to submit comments on the draft documents when they are posted and to contact county planners with specific concerns.