Opinion No. (2004)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General DANIEL G. STONE Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE WILLIAM C. KATZENSTEIN, COUNTY COUNSEL, COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE, has requested an opinion on the following question: May an airport land use commission exempt a specific plan adopted by a city or county from compliance with the commission's more stringent compatibility standards for land use, development density, and development intensity in the vicinity of a public use airport? CONCLUSION An airport land use commission may not exempt a specific plan adopted by a city or county from compliance with the commission's more stringent compatibility standards for land use, development density, and development intensity in the vicinity of a public use airport. ANALYSIS The Legislature has enacted a comprehensive statutory scheme, the State Aeronautics Act (Pub. Util. Code, §§ 21001-21707; "Act") 1 "to further and protect the public interest in aeronautics" (§ 21002) and, more particularly, "to provide for the orderly development of each public use airport in this state and the area surrounding these airports" (§ 21670, subd. (a)), among other specific purposes. A seven-member airport land…