Rent Hike Spurs Sheriff’s Air Squadron to Weigh Move
LONG BEACH — The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department would like to move its squadron of 16 helicopters and two airplanes from Long Beach Airport to Brackett Field in La Verne because of a nearly tenfold rent increase at the Long Beach facility.
Long Beach’s Airport Bureau of Public Works raised the rent last October for the sheriff’s Aero Bureau from $1,510 a month to $14,150 a month, said Lonnie Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the bureau. The rent increase came at the completion of a 20-year lease and one-year lease extension.
The rent jumped dramatically because the property was rezoned in 1982 to permit commercial uses--instead of exclusively airport-related operations--and because of a vast increase in property values, Mitchell said.
Sheriff’s Cmdr. Lee Baca said the Aero Bureau hopes to move to Brackett Field--sandwiched between Puddingstone Reservoir in San Dimas and the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona--if a reasonable rent and other lease terms can be negotiated with the San Gabriel Valley airfield.
Before any agreement is reached, however, the Sheriff’s Department has been ordered by the County Board of Supervisors to hold public hearings in La Verne, Pomona and San Dimas so that residents in those communities can hear about and discuss the proposal. The hearings have not been scheduled.
The sheriff’s aircraft “will have a significant noise impact on the residents†in those communities, according to a resolution by Supervisor Pete Schabarum that requested the public hearings.
La Verne Mayor Jon Blickenstaff agreed. “I think there are some possible benefits as far as having better access to services from the sheriff’s helicopters. But I’m also concerned about noise and safety,†Blickenstaff said.
Mitchell said Long Beach residents occasionally complained of noise from the sheriff’s aircraft.
The sheriff’s Aero Bureau supports deputies on the ground in chasing suspects, and it transports prisoners and performs surveillance duties.
The 53-employee bureau also assists in searches and rescues in remote areas.
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